Pengenalan Isyarat Tangan Menggunakan Leap Motion Controller untuk Pertunjukan Boneka Tangan Virtual

OpenAIRE

Dzulkarnain, Iskandar; Sumpeno, Surya; Christyowidiasmoro, Christyowidiasmoro

2016-01-01

Leap Motion Controller memiliki keterbatasan dalam menangkap gerak isyarat tangan. Keterbatasan tersebut menyebabkan gerakan tangan model boneka virtual tidak seakurat gerakan tangan pelakon. Selain itu, konfigurasi bone model dimensi tiga untuk Leap Motion Controller berbeda dengan konfigurasi bone dimensi tiga pada umumnya. Oleh karena itu, dilakukan pengenalan isyarat tangan menggunakan Leap Motion Controller untuk pertunjukan boneka tangan virtual. Pengenalan isyarat tangan tersebut dilak...

Pengenalan Isyarat Tangan Menggunakan Leap Motion Controller untuk Pertunjukan Boneka Tangan Virtual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Leap Motion Controller memiliki keterbatasan dalam menangkap gerak isyarat tangan. Keterbatasan tersebut menyebabkan gerakan tangan model boneka virtual tidak seakurat gerakan tangan pelakon. Selain itu, konfigurasi bone model dimensi tiga untuk Leap Motion Controller berbeda dengan konfigurasi bone dimensi tiga pada umumnya. Oleh karena itu, dilakukan pengenalan isyarat tangan menggunakan Leap Motion Controller untuk pertunjukan boneka tangan virtual. Pengenalan isyarat tangan tersebut dilakukan dengan memetakan hasil penjejakan tangan dari Leap Motion Controller ke dalam model prefab tangan Leap SDK. Setelah berhasil dipetakan, konfigurasi bone dari model prefab tangan Leap SDK diadaptasi ke dalam model boneka tangan virtual. Adaptasi tersebut dilakukan dengan mengatur posisi dan orientasi bone pada model dimensi tiga boneka tangan. Setelah posisi dan orientasi bone yang sesuai ditemukan, model dimensi tiga boneka tangan diuji menirukan gerakan boneka tangan asli. Pengujian boneka tangan virtual pada sembarang orang dilakukan untuk mengetahui tingkat kesinkronan gerak mulut atas dan mulut bawah boneka tangan virtual. Dari pengujian sembarang orang, didapatkan hasil 50% setuju dan 5,6% sangat setuju gerak mulut atas sinkron dengan gerak tangan. Sedangkan untuk gerak mulut bawah sinkron dengan gerak tangan didapatkan 16,7% setuju dan 11,1% sangat setuju.

LEAP Phase II, Net Energy Gain From Laser Fields in Vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, C.D.; Colby, E.R.; Plettner, T.

2005-01-01

The current Laser Electron Acceleration Program (LEAP) seeks to modulate the energy of an electron bunch by interaction of the electrons with a copropagating pair of crossed laser beams at 800 nm. We present an optical injector design for a LEAP cell so that it can be used to give net energy gain to an electron bunch. Unique features of the design are discussed which will allow this net energy gain and which will also provide a robust signature for the LEAP interaction

LEAP Phase II, net energy gain from laser fields in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, Christopher D.; Colby, Eric R.; Plettner, Tomas

2002-01-01

The current Laser Electron Acceleration Program (LEAP) seeks to modulate the energy of an electron bunch by interaction of the electrons with a copropagating pair of crossed laser beams at 800 nm. We present an optical injector design for a LEAP cell so that it can be used to give net energy gain to an electron bunch. Unique features of the design are discussed which will allow this net energy gain and which will also provide a robust signature for the LEAP interaction

LEAP: biomarker inference through learning and evaluating association patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xia; Neapolitan, Richard E

2015-03-01

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) high-dimensional datasets are available from Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS). Such data provide researchers opportunities to investigate the complex genetic basis of diseases. Much of genetic risk might be due to undiscovered epistatic interactions, which are interactions in which combination of several genes affect disease. Research aimed at discovering interacting SNPs from GWAS datasets proceeded in two directions. First, tools were developed to evaluate candidate interactions. Second, algorithms were developed to search over the space of candidate interactions. Another problem when learning interacting SNPs, which has not received much attention, is evaluating how likely it is that the learned SNPs are associated with the disease. A complete system should provide this information as well. We develop such a system. Our system, called LEAP, includes a new heuristic search algorithm for learning interacting SNPs, and a Bayesian network based algorithm for computing the probability of their association. We evaluated the performance of LEAP using 100 1,000-SNP simulated datasets, each of which contains 15 SNPs involved in interactions. When learning interacting SNPs from these datasets, LEAP outperformed seven others methods. Furthermore, only SNPs involved in interactions were found to be probable. We also used LEAP to analyze real Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer GWAS datasets. We obtained interesting and new results from the Alzheimer's dataset, but limited results from the breast cancer dataset. We conclude that our results support that LEAP is a useful tool for extracting candidate interacting SNPs from high-dimensional datasets and determining their probability. © 2015 The Authors. *Genetic Epidemiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A syncopated leap-frog algorithm for orbit consistent plasma simulation of materials processing reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cobb, J.W.; Leboeuf, J.N.

1994-01-01

The authors present a particle algorithm to extend simulation capabilities for plasma based materials processing reactors. The orbit integrator uses a syncopated leap-frog algorithm in cylindrical coordinates, which maintains second order accuracy, and minimizes computational complexity. Plasma source terms are accumulated orbit consistently directly in the frequency and azimuthal mode domains. Finally they discuss the numerical analysis of this algorithm. Orbit consistency greatly reduces the computational cost for a given level of precision. The computational cost is independent of the degree of time scale separation

Avoiding negative populations in explicit Poisson tau-leaping.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yang; Gillespie, Daniel T; Petzold, Linda R

2005-08-01

The explicit tau-leaping procedure attempts to speed up the stochastic simulation of a chemically reacting system by approximating the number of firings of each reaction channel during a chosen time increment tau as a Poisson random variable. Since the Poisson random variable can have arbitrarily large sample values, there is always the possibility that this procedure will cause one or more reaction channels to fire so many times during tau that the population of some reactant species will be driven negative. Two recent papers have shown how that unacceptable occurrence can be avoided by replacing the Poisson random variables with binomial random variables, whose values are naturally bounded. This paper describes a modified Poisson tau-leaping procedure that also avoids negative populations, but is easier to implement than the binomial procedure. The new Poisson procedure also introduces a second control parameter, whose value essentially dials the procedure from the original Poisson tau-leaping at one extreme to the exact stochastic simulation algorithm at the other; therefore, the modified Poisson procedure will generally be more accurate than the original Poisson procedure.

Evaluering av Leap Motion kontrollern för visualisering av musik

OpenAIRE

Uvman, Oliver

2016-01-01

An experiment was carried out, attempting to ascertain whether the Leap Motion Controller can be a useful input device for dynamically controlling graphic visualizations, e.g. by artists who use video and interactive visual arts to enhance music performances. The Leap Motion Controller was found to be too unreliable to be used as the primary controller in a professional visual arts performance.

Interim report on nodel evaluation methodology and the evaluation of LEAP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alsmiller, R.G. Jr.; Barish, J.; Bjornstad, D.

1980-04-01

This report describes progress made at ORNL toward development and demonstration of a methodology for evaluating energy-economic modeling codes and important results derived from these codes. To bolster traditional evaluation methods with more-quantitative procedures of interest to the Energy Information Administration, ORNL is applying sensitivity theory as part of a comprehensive effort to quantify the importance of various data and model parameters to the key results that are of interest. The Long-Term Energy Analysis Program (LEAP) was chosen as the initial focus for the research. LEAP is an energy-economy model which resides in the Long-Term Energy Analysis Division (LTEAD) of the Integrative Analysis Group in the Office of Applied Analysis, EIA. LTEAD developed Model 22C of LEAP for two reasons: (1) to prepare projections through the year 2020, which were needed for the 1978 EIA Annual Report to Congress and (2) to develop a base for analyses of specific options for Federal action. LEAP Model 22C and its uses are described to provide the background for this interim description of the model evaluation effort at ORNL. 19 figures, 10 tables.

3D hra s technologií Leap Motion

OpenAIRE

Mainuš, Matěj

2014-01-01

Cílem této bakalářské práce bylo navrhnout a implementovat 3D hru labyrint ovládanou pomocí gest rukou. Pro rozpoznávání pohybu a gest hra využívá technologii Leap Motion, aplikace samotná je vytvořena v herním enginu Unity. Výsledkem práce je multiplatformní 3D hra s vlastní knihovnou, která integruje Leap Motion SDK do Unity a eliminuje chyby v detekci rukou. The goal of this bachelor's thesis is to design and create a 3D labyrinth game controlled by hand gestures. This is achieved by us...

Improvement of blow down model for LEAP code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itooka, Satoshi; Fujimata, Kazuhiro

2003-03-01

In Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, the improvement of analysis method for overheating tube rapture was studied for the accident of sodium-water reactions in the steam generator of a fast breeder reactor and the evaluation of heat transfer condition in the tube were carried out based on study of critical heat flux (CHF) and post-CHF heat transfer equation in Light Water Reactors. In this study, the improvement of blow down model for the LEAP code was carried out taking into consideration the above-mentioned evaluation of heat transfer condition. Improvements of the LEAP code were following items. Calculations and verification were performed with the improved LEAP code in order to confirm the code functions. The addition of critical heat flux (CHF) by the formula of Katto and the formula of Tong. The addition of post-CHF heat transfer equation by the formula of Condie-BengstonIV and the formula of Groeneveld 5.9. The physical properties of the water and steam are expanded to the critical conditions of the water. The expansion of the total number of section and the improvement of the input form. The addition of the function to control the valve setting by the PID control model. (author)

Drift-Implicit Multi-Level Monte Carlo Tau-Leap Methods for Stochastic Reaction Networks

KAUST Repository

Ben Hammouda, Chiheb

2015-05-12

In biochemical systems, stochastic e↵ects can be caused by the presence of small numbers of certain reactant molecules. In this setting, discrete state-space and stochastic simulation approaches were proved to be more relevant than continuous state-space and deterministic ones. These stochastic models constitute the theory of stochastic reaction networks (SRNs). Furthermore, in some cases, the dynamics of fast and slow time scales can be well separated and this is characterized by what is called sti↵ness. For such problems, the existing discrete space-state stochastic path simulation methods, such as the stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) and the explicit tau-leap method, can be very slow. Therefore, implicit tau-leap approxima- tions were developed to improve the numerical stability and provide more e cient simulation algorithms for these systems. One of the interesting tasks for SRNs is to approximate the expected values of some observables of the process at a certain fixed time T. This is can be achieved using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. However, in a recent work, Anderson and Higham in 2013, proposed a more computationally e cient method which combines multi-level Monte Carlo (MLMC) technique with explicit tau-leap schemes. In this MSc thesis, we propose new fast stochastic algorithm, particularly designed 5 to address sti↵ systems, for approximating the expected values of some observables of SRNs. In fact, we take advantage of the idea of MLMC techniques and drift-implicit tau-leap approximation to construct a drift-implicit MLMC tau-leap estimator. In addition to accurately estimating the expected values of a given observable of SRNs at a final time T , our proposed estimator ensures the numerical stability with a lower cost than the MLMC explicit tau-leap algorithm, for systems including simultane- ously fast and slow species. The key contribution of our work is the coupling of two drift-implicit tau-leap paths, which is the basic brick for

Analysis of the accuracy and robustness of the leap motion controller.

Science.gov (United States)

Weichert, Frank; Bachmann, Daniel; Rudak, Bartholomäus; Fisseler, Denis

2013-05-14

The Leap Motion Controller is a new device for hand gesture controlled user interfaces with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. However, up to this point its capabilities in real environments have not been analyzed. Therefore, this paper presents a first study of a Leap Motion Controller. The main focus of attention is on the evaluation of the accuracy and repeatability. For an appropriate evaluation, a novel experimental setup was developed making use of an industrial robot with a reference pen allowing a position accuracy of 0.2 mm. Thereby, a deviation between a desired 3D position and the average measured positions below 0.2 mm has been obtained for static setups and of 1.2 mm for dynamic setups. Using the conclusion of this analysis can improve the development of applications for the Leap Motion controller in the field of Human-Computer Interaction.

LEAP 1992: Conference summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dover, C.B.

1992-12-01

We present a summary of the many new results in antiproton (bar p) physics presented at the LEAP '92 conference, in the areas of meson spectroscopy, bar NN scattering, annihilation and spin observables, strangeness and charm production, bar N annihilation in nuclei, atomic physics with very low energy bar p's, the exploration of fundamental symmetries and interactions with bar p (CP, T, CPT, gravitation), and the prospects for new bar p facilities at ultralow energies or energies above the LEAR regime (≥ 2 GeV/c)

Analysis of the Accuracy and Robustness of the Leap Motion Controller

OpenAIRE

Weichert, Frank; Bachmann, Daniel; Rudak, Bartholomäus; Fisseler, Denis

2013-01-01

The Leap Motion Controller is a new device for hand gesture controlled user interfaces with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. However, up to this point its capabilities in real environments have not been analyzed. Therefore, this paper presents a first study of a Leap Motion Controller. The main focus of attention is on the evaluation of the accuracy and repeatability. For an appropriate evaluation, a novel experimental setup was developed making use of an industrial robot with a reference pe...

Analysis of the Accuracy and Robustness of the Leap Motion Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Fisseler

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The Leap Motion Controller is a new device for hand gesture controlled user interfaces with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. However, up to this point its capabilities in real environments have not been analyzed. Therefore, this paper presents a first study of a Leap Motion Controller. The main focus of attention is on the evaluation of the accuracy and repeatability. For an appropriate evaluation, a novel experimental setup was developed making use of an industrial robot with a reference pen allowing a position accuracy of 0.2 mm. Thereby, a deviation between a desired 3D position and the average measured positions below 0.2mmhas been obtained for static setups and of 1.2mmfor dynamic setups. Using the conclusion of this analysis can improve the development of applications for the Leap Motion controller in the field of Human-Computer Interaction.

LEAP: A balloon-borne search for low-energy cosmic ray antiprotons

Science.gov (United States)

Moats, Anne Rosalie Myers

The LEAP (Low Energy Antiproton) experiment is a search for cosmic ray antiprotons in the 120 MeV to 1.2 GeV kinetic energy range. The motivation for this project was the result announced by Buffington et al. (1981) that indicated an anomalously high antiproton flux below 300 MeV; this result has compelled theorists to propose sources of primary antiprotons above the small secondary antiproton flux produced by high energy cosmic ray collisions with nuclei in the interstellar medium. LEAP consisted of the NMSU magnet spectrometer, a time-of-flight system designed at NASA-Goddard, two scintillation detectors, and a Cherenkov counter. Analysis of flight data performed by the high energy astrophysics group at Goddard Space Flight Center revealed no antiproton candidates found in the 120 MeV to 360 MeV range; 3 possible antiproton candidate events were found in the 500 MeV to 1.2 GeV range in an analysis done here at the University of Arizona. However, since it will be necessary to sharpen the calibration on all of the LEAP systems in order to positively identify these events as antiprotons, only an upper limit has been determined at present. Thus, combining the analyses performed at the University of Arizona and NASA-Goddard, 90 percent confidence upper limits of 3.5 x 10-5 in the 120 MeV to 360 MeV range and 2.3 x 10-4 in the 500 MeV to 1.2 GeV range for the antiproton/proton ratio is indicated by the LEAP results. LEAP disagrees sharply with the results of the Buffington group, indicating a low antiproton flux at these energies. Thus, a purely secondary antiproton flux may be adequate at low energies.

Initial Experiments with the Leap Motion as a User Interface in Robotic Endonasal Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Travaglini, T A; Swaney, P J; Weaver, Kyle D; Webster, R J

The Leap Motion controller is a low-cost, optically-based hand tracking system that has recently been introduced on the consumer market. Prior studies have investigated its precision and accuracy, toward evaluating its usefulness as a surgical robot master interface. Yet due to the diversity of potential slave robots and surgical procedures, as well as the dynamic nature of surgery, it is challenging to make general conclusions from published accuracy and precision data. Thus, our goal in this paper is to explore the use of the Leap in the specific scenario of endonasal pituitary surgery. We use it to control a concentric tube continuum robot in a phantom study, and compare user performance using the Leap to previously published results using the Phantom Omni. We find that the users were able to achieve nearly identical average resection percentage and overall surgical duration with the Leap.

Initial Experiments with the Leap Motion as a User Interface in Robotic Endonasal Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

Travaglini, T. A.; Swaney, P. J.; Weaver, Kyle D.; Webster, R. J.

2016-01-01

The Leap Motion controller is a low-cost, optically-based hand tracking system that has recently been introduced on the consumer market. Prior studies have investigated its precision and accuracy, toward evaluating its usefulness as a surgical robot master interface. Yet due to the diversity of potential slave robots and surgical procedures, as well as the dynamic nature of surgery, it is challenging to make general conclusions from published accuracy and precision data. Thus, our goal in this paper is to explore the use of the Leap in the specific scenario of endonasal pituitary surgery. We use it to control a concentric tube continuum robot in a phantom study, and compare user performance using the Leap to previously published results using the Phantom Omni. We find that the users were able to achieve nearly identical average resection percentage and overall surgical duration with the Leap. PMID:26752501

Leaping Shampoo and the Stable Kaye Effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Versluis, Michel; Blom, C.; van der Meer, Roger M.; van der Weele, J.P.; Lohse, Detlef

2006-01-01

The 'Leaping Shampoo' video reveals the underlying physical mechanisms of the so-called Kaye effect. The spectacular effect is a classic textbook example to illustrate the rich dynamics of complex fluids and was first described by A. Kaye in a 1963 Nature paper, however, no published discussion or

Evaluation of the leap motion controller as a new contact-free pointing device.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachmann, Daniel; Weichert, Frank; Rinkenauer, Gerhard

2014-12-24

This paper presents a Fitts' law-based analysis of the user's performance in selection tasks with the Leap Motion Controller compared with a standard mouse device. The Leap Motion Controller (LMC) is a new contact-free input system for gesture-based human-computer interaction with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. Up to this point, there has hardly been any systematic evaluation of this new system available. With an error rate of 7.8% for the LMC and 2.8% for the mouse device, movement times twice as large as for a mouse device and high overall effort ratings, the Leap Motion Controller's performance as an input device for everyday generic computer pointing tasks is rather limited, at least with regard to the selection recognition provided by the LMC.

Evaluation of the Leap Motion Controller as a New Contact-Free Pointing Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Bachmann

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a Fitts’ law-based analysis of the user’s performance in selection tasks with the Leap Motion Controller compared with a standard mouse device. The Leap Motion Controller (LMC is a new contact-free input system for gesture-based human-computer interaction with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. Up to this point, there has hardly been any systematic evaluation of this new system available. With an error rate of 7.8% for the LMC and 2.8% for the mouse device, movement times twice as large as for a mouse device and high overall effort ratings, the Leap Motion Controller’s performance as an input device for everyday generic computer pointing tasks is rather limited, at least with regard to the selection recognition provided by the LMC.

Multilevel hybrid split-step implicit tau-leap

KAUST Repository

Ben Hammouda, Chiheb

2016-06-17

In biochemically reactive systems with small copy numbers of one or more reactant molecules, the dynamics is dominated by stochastic effects. To approximate those systems, discrete state-space and stochastic simulation approaches have been shown to be more relevant than continuous state-space and deterministic ones. In systems characterized by having simultaneously fast and slow timescales, existing discrete space-state stochastic path simulation methods, such as the stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) and the explicit tau-leap (explicit-TL) method, can be very slow. Implicit approximations have been developed to improve numerical stability and provide efficient simulation algorithms for those systems. Here, we propose an efficient Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method in the spirit of the work by Anderson and Higham (SIAM Multiscal Model. Simul. 10(1), 2012). This method uses split-step implicit tau-leap (SSI-TL) at levels where the explicit-TL method is not applicable due to numerical stability issues. We present numerical examples that illustrate the performance of the proposed method. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Model for neural signaling leap statistics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevrollier, Martine; Oria, Marcos

2011-01-01

We present a simple model for neural signaling leaps in the brain considering only the thermodynamic (Nernst) potential in neuron cells and brain temperature. We numerically simulated connections between arbitrarily localized neurons and analyzed the frequency distribution of the distances reached. We observed qualitative change between Normal statistics (with T 37.5 0 C, awaken regime) and Levy statistics (T = 35.5 0 C, sleeping period), characterized by rare events of long range connections.

Model for neural signaling leap statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Chevrollier, Martine; Oriá, Marcos

2011-03-01

We present a simple model for neural signaling leaps in the brain considering only the thermodynamic (Nernst) potential in neuron cells and brain temperature. We numerically simulated connections between arbitrarily localized neurons and analyzed the frequency distribution of the distances reached. We observed qualitative change between Normal statistics (with T = 37.5°C, awaken regime) and Lévy statistics (T = 35.5°C, sleeping period), characterized by rare events of long range connections.

Miraculous Readings: Using Fantasy Novels about Reading to Reflect on Reading the Bible

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, Russell W.

2009-01-01

This article reflects on the vivid images of reading presented in several popular fantasy novels, including "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "The Great Good Thing," and "The Neverending Story." It suggests that these images can be used to help children, youth, and adults reflect on the nature of reading and the potential power of reading sacred texts.…

The capabilities and constraints of the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System) for development of energy matrix; As potencialidades e restricoes do LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System) para o desenvolvimento de matriz energetica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Afonso Henriques Moreira [MS Consultoria Ltda, Itajuba, MG (Brazil); Universidade Federal de Itajuba (UNIFEI), MG (Brazil); Cruz, Ricardo Alexandre Passos da; Magalhaes, Ricardo Nogueira [IX Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda, Itajuba, MG (Brazil)

2010-07-01

This paper seeks to introduce and discuss the main features of the LEAP model preparing energy matrixes, in the medium and long term energy planning context. These characteristics are analyzed and compared to other known simulation models used worldwide, checking potentialities and existing barriers of using the LEAP program (author)

Low Emissions Alternative Power (LEAP) Project Office Business Team of the Aeropropulsion Research Program Office (ARPO) Org. 0140

Science.gov (United States)

Buttler, Jennifer A.

2004-01-01

The program for which I am working at this summer is Propulsion and Power/Low Emissions Alternative Power (P&P/LEAP). It invests in a fundamental TRL 1-6 research and technology portfolio that will enable the future of: Alternative fuels and/or alternative propulsion systems, non-combustion (electric) propulsion systems. P&P/LEAP will identify and capitalize on the highest potential concepts generated both internal and external to the Agency. During my 2004 summer at NASA Glenn Research Center, I worked with my mentor Barbara Mader, in the Project Office with the Business Team completing various tasks for the project and personnel. The LEAP project is a highly matrixed organization. The Project Office is responsible for the goals advocacy and dollar (budget) of the LEAP project. The objectives of the LEAP Project are to discover new energy sources and develop unconventional engines and power systems directed towards greatly reduced emissions, enable new vehicle concepts for public mobility, new science missions and national security. The Propulsion and PowerLow Emissions Alternative Power directly supports the environmental, mobility, national security objectives of the Vehicle Systems Program and the Aeronautics Technology Theme. Technology deliverables include the demonstration through integrated ground tests, a constant volume combustor in an engine system, and UAV/small transport aircraft all electric power system. My mentor serves as a key member of the management team for the Aeropropulsion Research Program Office (ARPO). She has represented the office on numerous occasions, and is a member of a number of center-wide panels/teams, such as the Space management Committee and is chair to the Business Process Consolidation Team. She is responsible for the overall coordination of resources for the Propulsion and Power Project - from advocacy to implementation. The goal for my summer at NASA was to document processes and archive program documents from the past

Model for neural signaling leap statistics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chevrollier, Martine; Oria, Marcos, E-mail: oria@otica.ufpb.br [Laboratorio de Fisica Atomica e Lasers Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal da ParaIba Caixa Postal 5086 58051-900 Joao Pessoa, Paraiba (Brazil)

2011-03-01

We present a simple model for neural signaling leaps in the brain considering only the thermodynamic (Nernst) potential in neuron cells and brain temperature. We numerically simulated connections between arbitrarily localized neurons and analyzed the frequency distribution of the distances reached. We observed qualitative change between Normal statistics (with T 37.5{sup 0}C, awaken regime) and Levy statistics (T = 35.5{sup 0}C, sleeping period), characterized by rare events of long range connections.

Expression of chicken LEAP-2 in the reproductive organs and embryos and in response to Salmonella enterica infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Michailidis, Georgios

2010-06-01

In recent years host antimicrobial peptides and proteins have been recognised as key mediators of the innate immune response in many vertebrate species, providing the first line of defense against potential pathogens. In chickens a number of cationic antimicrobial peptides have been recently identified. However, although these peptides have been studied extensively in the avian gastrointestinal tract, little is known about their function in the chicken reproductive organs and embryos. Chicken Liver Expressed Antimicrobial Peptide-2 (cLEAP-2) has been previously reported to function in protecting birds against microbial attack. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of cLEAP-2 gene in the chicken reproductive organs, as well as in chicken embryos during embryonic development, and to determine whether cLEAP-2 expression in the chicken reproductive organs was constitutive or induced as a response to Salmonella enteritidis infection. RNA was extracted from ovary, oviduct, testis and epididymis of sexually mature healthy and Salmonella infected birds, as well as from chicken embryos until day ten of embryonic development. Expression analysis data revealed that cLEAP-2 was expressed in the chicken ovary, testis and epididymis as well as in embryos during early embryonic development. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that cLEAP-2 expression was constitutive in the chicken epididymis, but was significantly up regulated in the chicken gonads, following Salmonella infection. In addition, expression of cLEAP-2 during chicken embryogenesis appeared to be developmentally regulated. These data provide evidence to suggest a key role of cLEAP-2 in the protection of the chicken reproductive organs and the developing embryos from Salmonella colonization.

Leap Motion Device Used to Control a Real Anthropomorphic Gripper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel Staretu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents for the first time the use of the Leap Motion device to control an anthropomorphic gripper with five fingers. First, a description of the Leap Motion device is presented, highlighting its main functional characteristics, followed by testing of its use for capturing the movements of a human hand's fingers in different configurations. Next, the HandCommander soft module and the Interface Controller application are described. The HandCommander is a software module created to facilitate interaction between a human hand and the GraspIT virtual environment, and the Interface Controller application is required to send motion data to the virtual environment and to test the communication protocol. For the test, a prototype of an anthropomorphic gripper with five fingers was made, including a proper hardware system of command and control, which is briefly presented in this paper. Following the creation of the prototype, the command system performance test was conducted under real conditions, evaluating the recognition efficiency of the objects to be gripped and the efficiency of the command and control strategies for the gripping process. The gripping test is exemplified by the gripping of an object, such as a screw spanner. It was found that the command system, both in terms of capturing human hand gestures with the Leap Motion device and effective object gripping, is operational. Suggestive figures are presented as examples.

SparseLeap: Efficient Empty Space Skipping for Large-Scale Volume Rendering

KAUST Repository

Hadwiger, Markus; Al-Awami, Ali K.; Beyer, Johanna; Agus, Marco; Pfister, Hanspeter

2017-01-01

Recent advances in data acquisition produce volume data of very high resolution and large size, such as terabyte-sized microscopy volumes. These data often contain many fine and intricate structures, which pose huge challenges for volume rendering, and make it particularly important to efficiently skip empty space. This paper addresses two major challenges: (1) The complexity of large volumes containing fine structures often leads to highly fragmented space subdivisions that make empty regions hard to skip efficiently. (2) The classification of space into empty and non-empty regions changes frequently, because the user or the evaluation of an interactive query activate a different set of objects, which makes it unfeasible to pre-compute a well-adapted space subdivision. We describe the novel SparseLeap method for efficient empty space skipping in very large volumes, even around fine structures. The main performance characteristic of SparseLeap is that it moves the major cost of empty space skipping out of the ray-casting stage. We achieve this via a hybrid strategy that balances the computational load between determining empty ray segments in a rasterization (object-order) stage, and sampling non-empty volume data in the ray-casting (image-order) stage. Before ray-casting, we exploit the fast hardware rasterization of GPUs to create a ray segment list for each pixel, which identifies non-empty regions along the ray. The ray-casting stage then leaps over empty space without hierarchy traversal. Ray segment lists are created by rasterizing a set of fine-grained, view-independent bounding boxes. Frame coherence is exploited by re-using the same bounding boxes unless the set of active objects changes. We show that SparseLeap scales better to large, sparse data than standard octree empty space skipping.

SparseLeap: Efficient Empty Space Skipping for Large-Scale Volume Rendering

KAUST Repository

Hadwiger, Markus

2017-08-28

Recent advances in data acquisition produce volume data of very high resolution and large size, such as terabyte-sized microscopy volumes. These data often contain many fine and intricate structures, which pose huge challenges for volume rendering, and make it particularly important to efficiently skip empty space. This paper addresses two major challenges: (1) The complexity of large volumes containing fine structures often leads to highly fragmented space subdivisions that make empty regions hard to skip efficiently. (2) The classification of space into empty and non-empty regions changes frequently, because the user or the evaluation of an interactive query activate a different set of objects, which makes it unfeasible to pre-compute a well-adapted space subdivision. We describe the novel SparseLeap method for efficient empty space skipping in very large volumes, even around fine structures. The main performance characteristic of SparseLeap is that it moves the major cost of empty space skipping out of the ray-casting stage. We achieve this via a hybrid strategy that balances the computational load between determining empty ray segments in a rasterization (object-order) stage, and sampling non-empty volume data in the ray-casting (image-order) stage. Before ray-casting, we exploit the fast hardware rasterization of GPUs to create a ray segment list for each pixel, which identifies non-empty regions along the ray. The ray-casting stage then leaps over empty space without hierarchy traversal. Ray segment lists are created by rasterizing a set of fine-grained, view-independent bounding boxes. Frame coherence is exploited by re-using the same bounding boxes unless the set of active objects changes. We show that SparseLeap scales better to large, sparse data than standard octree empty space skipping.

The laboratory environmental algae pond simulator (LEAPS) photobioreactor: Validation using outdoor pond cultures of Chlorella sorokiniana and Nannochloropsis salina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huesemann, M.; Williams, P.; Edmundson, S.; Chen, P.; Kruk, R.; Cullinan, V.; Crowe, B.; Lundquist, T.

2017-09-01

A bench-scale photobioreactor system, termed Laboratory Environmental Algae Pond Simulator (LEAPS), was designed and constructed to simulate outdoor pond cultivation for a wide range of geographical locations and seasons. The LEAPS consists of six well-mixed glass column photobioreactors sparged with CO2-enriched air to maintain a set-point pH, illuminated from above by a programmable multicolor LED lighting (0 to 2,500 µmol/m2-sec), and submerged in a temperature controlled water-bath (-2 °C to >60 °C). Measured incident light intensities and water temperatures deviated from the respective light and temperature set-points on average only 2.3% and 0.9%, demonstrating accurate simulation of light and temperature conditions measured in outdoor ponds. In order to determine whether microalgae strains cultured in the LEAPS exhibit the same linear phase biomass productivity as in outdoor ponds, Chlorella sorokiniana and Nannochloropsis salina were cultured in the LEAPS bioreactors using light and temperature scripts measured previously in the respective outdoor pond studies. For Chlorella sorokiniana, the summer season biomass productivity in the LEAPS was 6.6% and 11.3% lower than in the respective outdoor ponds in Rimrock, Arizona, and Delhi, California; however, these differences were not statistically significant. For Nannochloropsis salina, the winter season biomass productivity in the LEAPS was statistically significantly higher (15.2%) during the 27 day experimental period than in the respective outdoor ponds in Tucson, Arizona. However, when considering only the first 14 days, the LEAPS biomass productivity was only 9.2% higher than in the outdoor ponds, a difference shown to be not statistically significant. Potential reasons for the positive or negative divergence in LEAPS performance, relative to outdoor ponds, are discussed. To demonstrate the utility of the LEAPS in predicting productivity, two other strains – Scenedesmus obliquus and Stichococcus minor

Evaluation of the Leap Motion Controller as a New Contact-Free Pointing Device

OpenAIRE

Bachmann, Daniel; Weichert, Frank; Rinkenauer, Gerhard

2014-01-01

This paper presents a Fitts' law-based analysis of the user's performance in selection tasks with the Leap Motion Controller compared with a standard mouse device. The Leap Motion Controller (LMC) is a new contact-free input system for gesture-based human-computer interaction with declared sub-millimeter accuracy. Up to this point, there has hardly been any systematic evaluation of this new system available. With an error rate of 7.8 % for the LMC and 2.8% for the mouse device, movement times...

Mechanical characterization of densely welded Apache Leap tuff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuenkajorn, K.; Daemen, J.J.K.

1991-06-01

An empirical criterion is formulated to describe the compressive strength of the densely welded Apache Leap tuff. The criterion incorporates the effects of size, L/D ratio, loading rate and density variations. The criterion improves the correlation between the test results and the failure envelope. Uniaxial and triaxial compressive strengths, Brazilian tensile strength and elastic properties of the densely welded brown unit of the Apache Leap tuff have been determined using the ASTM standard test methods. All tuff samples are tested dry at room temperature (22 ± 2 degrees C), and have the core axis normal to the flow layers. The uniaxial compressive strength is 73.2 ± 16.5 MPa. The Brazilian tensile strength is 5.12 ± 1.2 MPa. The Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio are 22.6 ± 5.7 GPa and 0.20 ± 0.03. Smoothness and perpendicularity do not fully meet the ASTM requirements for all samples, due to the presence of voids and inclusions on the sample surfaces and the sample preparation methods. The investigations of loading rate, L/D radio and cyclic loading effects on the compressive strength and of the size effect on the tensile strength are not conclusive. The Coulomb strength criterion adequately represents the failure envelope of the tuff under confining pressures from 0 to 62 MPa. Cohesion and internal friction angle are 16 MPa and 43 degrees. The brown unit of the Apache Leap tuff is highly heterogeneous as suggested by large variations of the test results. The high intrinsic variability of the tuff is probably caused by the presence of flow layers and by nonuniform distributions of inclusions, voids and degree of welding. Similar variability of the properties has been found in publications on the Topopah Spring tuff at Yucca Mountain. 57 refs., 32 figs., 29 tabs

LEAP [Low-Energy Antiproton]: A balloon-borne search for low-energy cosmic-ray antiprotons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moats, A.R.M.

1989-01-01

The LEAP (Low-Energy Antiproton) experiment is a search for cosmic-ray antiprotons in the 120 MeV to 1.2 GeV kinetic energy range. The motivation for this project was the result announced by Buffington et. al. (1981) that indicated an anomalously high antiproton flux below 300 MeV; this result has compelled theorists to propose sources of primary antiprotons above the small secondary antiproton flux produced by high energy cosmic-ray collisions with nuclei in the interstellar medium. LEAP consisted of the NMSU magnetic spectrometer, a time-of-flight system designed at Goddard Space Flight Center, two scintillation detectors, and a Cherenkov counter designed and built at the University of Arizona. Analysis of flight data performed by the high-energy astrophysics group at Goddard Space Flight Center revealed no antiproton candidates found in the 120 MeV to 360 MeV range; 3 possible antiproton candidate events were found in the 500 MeV to 1.2 GeV range in an analysis done here at the University of Arizona. However, since it will be necessary to sharpen the calibration on all of the LEAP systems in order to positively identify these events as antiprotons, only an upper limit has been determined at present. Thus, combining the analyses performed at the University of Arizona and Goddard Space Flight Center, 90% confidence upper limits of 3.5 x 10 -5 in the 120 MeV to 360 MeV range and 2.3 x 10 -4 in the 500 MeV to 1.2 GeV range for the antiproton/proton ratio is indicated by the LEAP results. LEAP disagrees sharply with the results of the Buffington group, indicating a low antiproton flux at these energies

EFEKTIFITAS IMPLEMENTASI MODEL QUANTUM LEAP DALAM MENINGKATKAN PANGSA PASAR

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Suroyya Favourita H

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to find out the difference of fund and credit market share before quantum leapmodel implementation and one year after implementation. This research had been done at the Bank X(Persero Tbk. in region 06 Surabaya. It consists of 29 branches as population and respondents. It used thetool of t-test and ANOVA to compare fund and credit market share before and after implementation. Theresult of this research showed that fund declines after implementation. This condition was strengthened byhypothesis test result. So, it was shown that there was no significance differences between before and afterimplementation. Company ability in credit contribution improved, the change was regarded as significantbetween before and after implementation. Based on market share data result, it could be concluded that thecompany ability in getting fund decline in average, so quantum leap model was not effectively improvesfund market share. In contrary, quantum leap model effectively improves credit market share.

Python Leap Second Management and Implementation of Precise Barycentric Correction (barycorrpy)

Science.gov (United States)

Kanodia, Shubham; Wright, Jason

2018-01-01

We announce barycorrpy (BCPy) , a Python implementation to calculate precise barycentric corrections well below the 1 cm/s level, following the algorithm of Wright and Eastman (2014). This level of precision is required in the search for 1 Earth mass planets in the Habitable Zones of Sun-like stars by the Radial Velocity (RV) method, where the maximum semi-amplitude is about 9 cm/s. We have developed BCPy to be used in the pipeline for the next generation Doppler Spectrometers - Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) and NEID. In this work, we also develop an automated leap second management routine to improve upon the one available in Astropy. It checks for and downloads a new leap second file before converting from the UT time scale to TDB.

Evaluation of a portable markerless finger position capture device: accuracy of the Leap Motion controller in healthy adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, James Y; Lulic, Tea; Gonzalez, Dave A; Tran, Johnathan; Dickerson, Clark R; Roy, Eric A

2015-05-01

Although motion analysis is frequently employed in upper limb motor assessment (e.g. visually-guided reaching), they are resource-intensive and limited to laboratory settings. This study evaluated the reliability and accuracy of a new markerless motion capture device, the Leap Motion controller, to measure finger position. Testing conditions that influence reliability and agreement between the Leap and a research-grade motion capture system were examined. Nine healthy young adults pointed to 15 targets on a computer screen under two conditions: (1) touching the target (touch) and (2) 4 cm away from the target (no-touch). Leap data was compared to an Optotrak marker attached to the index finger. Across all trials, root mean square (RMS) error of the Leap system was 17.30  ±  9.56 mm (mean ± SD), sampled at 65.47  ±  21.53 Hz. The % viable trials and mean sampling rate were significantly lower in the touch condition (44% versus 64%, p motion capture systems, the Leap Motion controller is sufficiently reliable for measuring motor performance in pointing tasks that do not require high positional accuracy (e.g. reaction time, Fitt's, trails, bimanual coordination).

Trust as a Leap of Hope for Transaction Value

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Peter Ping

2015-01-01

trustor’s propensity to trust as well as above and beyond trustor confident expectation of trustee’s trustworthiness (either due to trustee’s trait-like characters or due to institutional assurance). In this sense, trust should be reframed as a leap of hope to enhance transaction value by taking advantage...

Tool path planning of hole-making operations in ejector plate of injection mould using modified shuffled frog leaping algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amol M. Dalavi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Optimization of hole-making operations in manufacturing industry plays a vital role. Tool travel and tool switch planning are the two major issues in hole-making operations. Many industrial applications such as moulds, dies, engine block, automotive parts etc. requires machining of large number of holes. Large number of machining operations like drilling, enlargement or tapping/reaming are required to achieve the final size of individual hole, which gives rise to number of possible sequences to complete hole-making operations on the part depending upon the location of hole and tool sequence to be followed. It is necessary to find the optimal sequence of operations which minimizes the total processing cost of hole-making operations. In this work, therefore an attempt is made to reduce the total processing cost of hole-making operations by applying relatively new optimization algorithms known as shuffled frog leaping algorithm and proposed modified shuffled frog leaping algorithm for the determination of optimal sequence of hole-making operations. An industrial application example of ejector plate of injection mould is considered in this work to demonstrate the proposed approach. The obtained results by the shuffled frog leaping algorithm and proposed modified shuffled frog leaping algorithm are compared with each other. It is seen from the obtained results that the results of proposed modified shuffled frog leaping algorithm are superior to those obtained using shuffled frog leaping algorithm.

Teachers’ beliefs about reading and use of reading strategies

OpenAIRE

VASILIKA RRAKU

2014-01-01

The aim of this article is to place the focus on teachers’ beliefs about reading and reading strategies to the purpose of emphasizing the im portance of reading strategies in the reading process. The method of study is analytic analysis of teachers’ beliefs obtained through ques tionnaires delivered to 18 English language teachers of elementary, secondary and high level education in the region of Saranda in lbania. The results of the study pointed to a great concordance between teach ers’ bel...

DESIGN REVIEW OF CAD MODELS USING A NUI LEAP MOTION SENSOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GÎRBACIA Florin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Natural User Interfaces (NUI is a relatively new area of research that aims to develop humancomputer interfaces, natural and intuitive, using voice commands, hand movements and gesture recognition, similar to communication between people which also implies body language and gestures. In this paper is presented a natural designed workspace which acquires the user's motion using a Leap Motion sensor and visualizes the CAD models using a CAVE-like 3D visualisation system. The user can modify complex CAD models using bimanual gesture commands in a 3D virtual environment. The developed bimanual gestures for rotate, pan, zoom and explode are presented. From the conducted experiments is established that Leap Motion NUI sensor provides an intuitive tool for design review of CAD models, performed even by users with no experience in CAD systems and virtual environments.

Optimal inverse magnetorheological damper modeling using shuffled frog-leaping algorithm–based adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiufang Lin

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Magnetorheological dampers have become prominent semi-active control devices for vibration mitigation of structures which are subjected to severe loads. However, the damping force cannot be controlled directly due to the inherent nonlinear characteristics of the magnetorheological dampers. Therefore, for fully exploiting the capabilities of the magnetorheological dampers, one of the challenging aspects is to develop an accurate inverse model which can appropriately predict the input voltage to control the damping force. In this article, a hybrid modeling strategy combining shuffled frog-leaping algorithm and adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system is proposed to model the inverse dynamic characteristics of the magnetorheological dampers for improving the modeling accuracy. The shuffled frog-leaping algorithm is employed to optimize the premise parameters of the adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system while the consequent parameters are tuned by a least square estimation method, here known as shuffled frog-leaping algorithm-based adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system approach. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the inverse modeling results based on the shuffled frog-leaping algorithm-based adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system approach are compared with those based on the adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system and genetic algorithm–based adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system approaches. Analysis of variance test is carried out to statistically compare the performance of the proposed methods and the results demonstrate that the shuffled frog-leaping algorithm-based adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system strategy outperforms the other two methods in terms of modeling (training accuracy and checking accuracy.

Enrofloxacin and Probiotic Lactobacilli Influence PepT1 and LEAP-2 mRNA Expression in Poultry.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlova, Ivelina; Milanova, Aneliya; Danova, Svetla; Fink-Gremmels, Johanna

2016-12-01

Expression of peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) and liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2) in chickens can be influenced by food deprivation, pathological conditions and drug administration. Effect of three putative probiotic Lactobacillus strains and enrofloxacin on the expression of PepT1 and LEAP-2 mRNA was investigated in Ross 308 chickens. One-day-old chicks (n = 24) were allocated to following groups: control (without treatment); group treated with probiotics via feed; group treated with a combination of probiotics and enrofloxacin; and a group given enrofloxacin only. The drug was administered at a dose of 10 mg kg -1 , via drinking water for 5 days. Samples from liver, duodenum and jejunum were collected 126 h after the start of the treatment. Expression levels of PepT1 and LEAP-2 were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction and were statistically evaluated by Mann-Whitney test. Enrofloxacin administered alone or in combination with probiotics provoked a statistically significant up-regulation of PepT1 mRNA levels in the measured organ sites. These changes can be attributed to a tendency of improvement in utilization of dietary peptide and in body weight gain. LEAP-2 mRNA expression levels did not change significantly in enrofloxacin-treated chickens in comparison with control group.

Reading: Great Expectations. Proceedings of the Annual Reading Conference (11th, Terre Haute, Indiana, June 11-12, 1981).

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Vanita M., Comp.; Pabst, Robert L., Comp.

One of a series of publications on selected aspects of reading curriculum development, this monograph contains eight papers that deal with expectations in the teaching of reading. Topics covered include (1) the relationship between reading and writing, (2) changing expectations in education, (3) skills programs for remedial readers, (4) ways to…

The Great Books and Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartley, James E.

2001-01-01

Describes an introductory economics course in which all of the reading material is drawn from the Great Books of Western Civilization. Explains the rationale and mechanics of the course. Includes an annotated course syllabus that details how the reading material relates to the lecture material. (RLH)

The Characters of Leap Years in Qing Calendars (1644-1911)

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Dalong

In Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) three different calendars had been put into use which titles are Xiyang Xinfa Lishu (Treatise on Astronomy and Calendrical Science according to the New Method in West 1645-1666) Yuzhi Lixiang Kaocheng (Compendium of Calendrical Science and Astronomy compiled by Imperial Order 1725-1742) and Yuzhi Lixiang Kaocheng Houbian (Sequel Compendium of Calendrical Science and Astronomy compiled by Imperial Order 1742-1911). The characters of leap years in the three calendars are different for the last one which is selected the year of 1723 as it epoch and named as Guimao Yuan Li. This calendar is based on the 33-year pattern of leap years (there is a rather exact accord between days and years over this interval with eight days being intercalated per 33 years) and is slightly different from the former two calendars. Therefore the calendars of Qing Dynasty complied by Western Jesuits and Chinese astronomers can be regarded as the remarkable achievements in the history of calendar in the world.

Draft genome sequence of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa strain Stag’s Leap

Science.gov (United States)

Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa causes Pierce’s disease of grapevine. Presented here is the draft genome sequence of the Stag’s Leap strain, previously used in pathogenicity/virulence assays to evaluate grapevine germplasm bearing Pierce’s disease....

Unreal Interactive Puppet Game Development Using Leap Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, An-Pin; Huang, Fay; Jhu, Jing-Siang

2018-04-01

This paper proposed a novel puppet play method utilizing recent technology. An interactive puppet game has been developed based on the theme of a famous Chinese classical novel. This project was implemented using Unreal Engine, which is a leading software of integrated tools for developers to design and build games. On the other hand, Leap Motion Controller is a sensor device for recognizing hand movements and gestures. It is commonly used in systems which require close-range finger-based user interaction. In order to manipulate puppets’ movements, the developed program employs the Leap Motion SDK, which provides a friendly way to add motion-controlled 3D hands to an Unreal game. The novelty of our project is to replace 3D model of rigged hands by two 3D humanoid rigged characters. The challenges of this task are two folds. First, the skeleton structure of a human hand and a humanoid character (i.e., puppets) are totally different. Making the puppets to follow the hand poses of the user and yet ensuring reasonable puppets’ movements has not been discussed in the literatures nor in the developer forums. Second, there are only a limited number of built-in recognizable hand gestures. More recognizable hand gestures need to be created for the interactive game. This paper reports the proposed solutions to these challenges.

Effects of Geometry and Kinematics on Animals Leaping Out of Water

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Brian; Myeong, Jihye; Virot, Emmanuel; Kim, Ho-Young; Jung, Sunghwan

2017-11-01

Leaping out of water is a phenomenon exhibited by a variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, such as frogs and whales. In this study, we aim to elucidate the effects of geometric and kinematic conditions on the propulsive and drag force required for an animal to jump through the water interface. A simple mechanism was designed to measure the propulsive thrust produced by a flapping appendage. In a separate experiment to measure the opposing drag, simplified models of animals are 3D printed and fitted with pressure sensors. The model is accelerated from rest and covers a range of Re from 103 to 105. Using a high-speed camera and pressure sensors, we observed a deformation of the free surface prior to water exit, and correlated this to the drag force. Finally, we discuss a scaling law to describe the general physics which allow animals to leap out of water. NSF EAPSI.

Medium- and Long-term Prediction of LOD Change by the Leap-step Autoregressive Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qijie

2015-08-01

The accuracy of medium- and long-term prediction of length of day (LOD) change base on combined least-square and autoregressive (LS+AR) deteriorates gradually. Leap-step autoregressive (LSAR) model can significantly reduce the edge effect of the observation sequence. Especially, LSAR model greatly improves the resolution of signals’ low-frequency components. Therefore, it can improve the efficiency of prediction. In this work, LSAR is used to forecast the LOD change. The LOD series from EOP 08 C04 provided by IERS is modeled by both the LSAR and AR models. The results of the two models are analyzed and compared. When the prediction length is between 10-30 days, the accuracy improvement is less than 10%. When the prediction length amounts to above 30 day, the accuracy improved obviously, with the maximum being around 19%. The results show that the LSAR model has higher prediction accuracy and stability in medium- and long-term prediction.

The ghost of Afrikaner identity in Ancestral voices, Leap year and The long silence of Mario Salviati (Etienne van Heerden

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Mariëtte van Graan

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Ghost characters are a characteristic of the novels of Etienne van Heerden, but little research has been done concerning the nature and function of these ghost characters. In this article I discuss Van Heerden’s use of ghost characters diachronically with reference to the novels Ancestral voices (1986, Leap year (1993 and The long silence of Mario Salviati (2000. In order to clarify the nature of these ghosts, I use the so-called science of the paranormal as a framework. The ghosts in the three novels will be classified accordingly, and then discussed within the context of the novels in which they appear. In this way, I shall show how the ghost characters in these novels can be read as a constantly changing embodiment of Afrikaner identity (a central theme in Van Heerden’s oeuvre. Van Heerden’s Afrikaner changes with the times: in Ancestral voices the ghost characters form a collective that represents a fragmented image of the stereotypical, archaic male Afrikaner identity; in Leap year a liminal character is written in a liminal time to embody a liminal Afrikaner identity; and in The long silence of Mario Salviati Van Heerden moves away from the exclusive Afrikaner identity to a broader South African identity by using ghost characters from very different backgrounds and origins. In conclusion I shall compare these identities and the historical contexts of these novels in order to show the function of Van Heerden’s ghost characters as constant rewritings of South African identities.

Virtual reality-based assessment of basic laparoscopic skills using the Leap Motion controller.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahanas, Vasileios; Loukas, Constantinos; Georgiou, Konstantinos; Lababidi, Hani; Al-Jaroudi, Dania

2017-12-01

The majority of the current surgical simulators employ specialized sensory equipment for instrument tracking. The Leap Motion controller is a new device able to track linear objects with sub-millimeter accuracy. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of a virtual reality (VR) simulator for assessment of basic laparoscopic skills, based on the low-cost Leap Motion controller. A simple interface was constructed to simulate the insertion point of the instruments into the abdominal cavity. The controller provided information about the position and orientation of the instruments. Custom tools were constructed to simulate the laparoscopic setup. Three basic VR tasks were developed: camera navigation (CN), instrument navigation (IN), and bimanual operation (BO). The experiments were carried out in two simulation centers: MPLSC (Athens, Greece) and CRESENT (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). Two groups of surgeons (28 experts and 21 novices) participated in the study by performing the VR tasks. Skills assessment metrics included time, pathlength, and two task-specific errors. The face validity of the training scenarios was also investigated via a questionnaire completed by the participants. Expert surgeons significantly outperformed novices in all assessment metrics for IN and BO (p assessment of basic laparoscopic skills. The proposed system allowed the evaluation of dexterity of the hand movements. Future work will involve comparison studies with validated simulators and development of advanced training scenarios on current Leap Motion controller.

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Unal Ulker

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The academic success of the university students greatly depends on the mastery of an academic reading skill. However, students as well as teachers, take the learning of this skill for granted, as they tend to presuppose that reading skill is acquired as a part of their secondary education. As a result, most first-year students employ non university strategies to read academic texts, which leads to a surface approach to reading and prevents students from a better understanding of the material. This paper will discuss the strategies that involve students in taking a deep approach to reading academic texts.

Study protocol: translating and implementing psychosocial interventions in aged home care the lifestyle engagement activity program (LEAP) for life

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Tailored psychosocial activity-based interventions have been shown to improve mood, behaviour and quality of life for nursing home residents. Occupational therapist delivered activity programs have shown benefits when delivered in home care settings for people with dementia. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of LEAP (Lifestyle Engagement Activity Program) for Life, a training and practice change program on the engagement of home care clients by care workers. Secondary aims are to evaluate the impact of the program on changes in client mood and behaviour. Methods/design The 12 month LEAP program has three components: 1) engaging site management and care staff in the program; 2) employing a LEAP champion one day a week to support program activities; 3) delivering an evidence-based training program to care staff. Specifically, case managers will be trained and supported to set meaningful social or recreational goals with clients and incorporate these into care plans. Care workers will be trained in and encouraged to practise good communication, promote client independence and choice, and tailor meaningful activities using Montessori principles, reminiscence, music, physical activity and play. LEAP Champions will be given information about theories of organisational change and trained in interpersonal skills required for their role. LEAP will be evaluated in five home care sites including two that service ethnic minority groups. A quasi experimental design will be used with evaluation data collected four times: 6-months prior to program commencement; at the start of the program; and then after 6 and 12 months. Mixed effect models will enable comparison of change in outcomes for the periods before and during the program. The primary outcome measure is client engagement. Secondary outcomes for clients are satisfaction with care, dysphoria/depression, loneliness, apathy and agitation; and work satisfaction for care workers. A process

The long-term forecast of Taiwan's energy supply and demand: LEAP model application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Yophy; Bor, Yunchang Jeffrey; Peng, Chieh-Yu

2011-01-01

The long-term forecasting of energy supply and demand is an extremely important topic of fundamental research in Taiwan due to Taiwan's lack of natural resources, dependence on energy imports, and the nation's pursuit of sustainable development. In this article, we provide an overview of energy supply and demand in Taiwan, and a summary of the historical evolution and current status of its energy policies, as background to a description of the preparation and application of a Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model of Taiwan's energy sector. The Taiwan LEAP model is used to compare future energy demand and supply patterns, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, for several alternative scenarios of energy policy and energy sector evolution. Results of scenarios featuring 'business-as-usual' policies, aggressive energy-efficiency improvement policies, and on-schedule retirement of Taiwan's three existing nuclear plants are provided and compared, along with sensitivity cases exploring the impacts of lower economic growth assumptions. A concluding section provides an interpretation of the implications of model results for future energy and climate policies in Taiwan. - Research highlights: → The LEAP model is useful for international energy policy comparison. → Nuclear power plants have significant, positive impacts on CO 2 emission. → The most effective energy policy is to adopt demand-side management. → Reasonable energy pricing provides incentives for energy efficiency and conservation. → Financial crisis has less impact on energy demand than aggressive energy policy.

Teaching of reading to school beginners : a study of reading programmes in primary one in Uganda

OpenAIRE

Kemizano, Rosert

2007-01-01

Abstract The study examines reading programmes with the reference to the teaching/learning of reading to school beginners. The teaching of reading at the early stages is important because it is the quality of the experiences that children get that affect or lay the foundation for reading development (Chall, 1996).Therefore, the phenomenon, “teaching of reading to school beginners” studied is of great importance. The theoretical background used includes reading and its importance, Languag...

Draft Genome Sequence of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa Strain Stag?s Leap

OpenAIRE

Chen, J.; Wu, F.; Zheng, Z.; Deng, X.; Burbank, L. P.; Stenger, D. C.

2016-01-01

Xylella fastidiosa subsp. fastidiosa causes Pierce?s disease of grapevine. Presented here is the draft genome sequence of the Stag?s Leap strain, previously used in pathogenicity/virulence assays to evaluate grapevine germplasm bearing Pierce?s disease resistance and a phenotypic assessment of knockout mutants to determine gene function.

Nonlinear Rayleigh wave inversion based on the shuffled frog-leaping algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Cheng-Yu; Wang, Yan-Yan; Wu, Dun-Shi; Qin, Xiao-Jun

2017-12-01

At present, near-surface shear wave velocities are mainly calculated through Rayleigh wave dispersion-curve inversions in engineering surface investigations, but the required calculations pose a highly nonlinear global optimization problem. In order to alleviate the risk of falling into a local optimal solution, this paper introduces a new global optimization method, the shuffle frog-leaping algorithm (SFLA), into the Rayleigh wave dispersion-curve inversion process. SFLA is a swarm-intelligence-based algorithm that simulates a group of frogs searching for food. It uses a few parameters, achieves rapid convergence, and is capability of effective global searching. In order to test the reliability and calculation performance of SFLA, noise-free and noisy synthetic datasets were inverted. We conducted a comparative analysis with other established algorithms using the noise-free dataset, and then tested the ability of SFLA to cope with data noise. Finally, we inverted a real-world example to examine the applicability of SFLA. Results from both synthetic and field data demonstrated the effectiveness of SFLA in the interpretation of Rayleigh wave dispersion curves. We found that SFLA is superior to the established methods in terms of both reliability and computational efficiency, so it offers great potential to improve our ability to solve geophysical inversion problems.

Towards automatic global error control: Computable weak error expansion for the tau-leap method

KAUST Repository

Karlsson, Peer Jesper; Tempone, Raul

2011-01-01

This work develops novel error expansions with computable leading order terms for the global weak error in the tau-leap discretization of pure jump processes arising in kinetic Monte Carlo models. Accurate computable a posteriori error approximations are the basis for adaptive algorithms, a fundamental tool for numerical simulation of both deterministic and stochastic dynamical systems. These pure jump processes are simulated either by the tau-leap method, or by exact simulation, also referred to as dynamic Monte Carlo, the Gillespie Algorithm or the Stochastic Simulation Slgorithm. Two types of estimates are presented: an a priori estimate for the relative error that gives a comparison between the work for the two methods depending on the propensity regime, and an a posteriori estimate with computable leading order term. © de Gruyter 2011.

Development of LEAP-JET code for sodium-water reaction analysis. Validation by sodium-water reaction tests (SWAT-1R)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seino, Hiroshi; Hamada, Hirotsugu

2004-03-01

The sodium-water reaction event in an FBR steam generator (SG) has influence on the safety, economical efficiency, etc. of the plant, so that the selection of design base leak (DBL) of the SG is considered as one of the important matters. The clarification of the sodium-water reaction phenomenon and the development of an analysis model are necessary to estimate the sodium-water reaction event with high accuracy and rationality in selecting the DBL. The reaction jet model is pointed out as a part of the necessary improvements to evaluate the overheating tube rupture of large SGs, since the behavior of overheating tube rupture is largely affected by the reaction jet conditions outside the tube. Therefore, LEAP-JET has been developed as an analysis code for the simulation of sodium-water reactions. This document shows the validation of the LEAP-JET code by the Sodium-Water Reaction Test (SWAT-1R). The following results have been obtained: (1) The reaction rate constant, K, is estimated at between 0.001≤K≤0.1 from the LEAP-JET analysis of the SWAT-1R data. (2) The analytical results on the high-temperature region and the behaviors of reaction consumption (Na, H 2 O) and products (H 2 , NaOH, Na 2 O) are considered to be physically reasonable. (3) The LEAP-JET analysis shows the tendency of overestimation in the maximum temperature and temperature distribution of the reaction jet. (4) In the LEAP-JET analysis, the numerical calculation becomes unstably, especially in the mesh containing quite small sodium mass. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the computational algorism to stabilize it and obtain the optimum value of K in sodium-water reactions. (author)

Multilevel Drift-Implicit Tau-Leap

KAUST Repository

Ben Hammouda, Chiheb

2016-01-06

The dynamics of biochemical reactive systems with small copy numbers of one or more reactant molecules is dominated by stochastic effects. For those systems, discrete state-space and stochastic simulation approaches were proved to be more relevant than continuous state-space and deterministic ones. In systems characterized by having simultaneously fast and slowtimescales, the existing discrete space-state stochastic path simulation methods such as the stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA) and the explicit tauleap method can be very slow. Implicit approximations were developed in the literature to improve numerical stability and provide efficient simulation algorithms for those systems. In this work, we propose an efficient Multilevel Monte Carlo method in the spirit of the work by Anderson and Higham (2012) that uses drift-implicit tau-leap approximations at levels where the explicit tauleap method is not applicable due to numerical stability issues. We present numerical examples that illustrate the performance of the proposed method.

The last glacial inception in continental northwestern Europe: characterization and timing of the Late Eemian Aridity Pulse (LEAP) recorded in multiple Belgian speleothems.

Science.gov (United States)

Vansteenberge, Stef; Verheyden, Sophie; Quinif, Yves; Genty, Dominique; Blamart, Dominique; Deprez, Maxim; Van Stappen, Jeroen; Cnudde, Veerle; Cheng, Hai; Edwards, R. Lawrence; Claeys, Philippe

2017-04-01

Interglacial-glacial transitions represent important turnovers in the climate system. In contrast with glacial terminations, they are described as a more gradual cooling. So far, the last interglacial has yielded a wealth of knowledge regarding climate dynamics during past warm periods. On top of the assumed gradual temperature drop starting at 119 ka, evidence for the presence of a drastic drying/cooling event in northern Europe has been observed. In lake records from Germany, a distinct shift in pollen assembly at 117.5 ka is interpreted as the consequence of a short dry event lasting 470 years, defined as the Late Eemian Aridity Pulse (LEAP, Sirocko et al., 2005). In a Belgian stalagmite from Han-sur-Lesse Cave, the LEAP is characterized by a 5‰ increase in δ13C occurring in just 200 years. The δ13C enrichment is dated at 117.5 ka and associated with a vegetation change above the cave, induced by a drying and/or cooling event (Vansteenberge et al., 2016). Also, within North Atlantic sediment cores, an increase in ice rafted debris was linked to the occurrence of a colder period at 117 ka (Irvali et al., 2016). Its coevality with the LEAP indicates a likely more regional extent than previously thought. Up to now, no independent chronology exists and little is known about the continental climatic expression of the LEAP. This study aims at 1) constructing an improved and independent chronology for the LEAP event, 2) characterizing this event in terms of its climatic expression and 3) placing the LEAP within the context of an interglacial-glacial transition. For this, two additional speleothems (Han-8, RSM-17) from two different Belgian caves (Han-sur-Lesse, Remouchamps) are added to the existing Han-9 dataset. Exceptionally high growth rates (0.5 mm yr-1) and a presumed annual layering of the RSM-17 sample enable an annual to decadal resolution to investigate the LEAP. U-Th age models covering the glacial inception are constructed with 25 dates on the three

EDITORIAL: Quanta and leaps

Science.gov (United States)

Dobson, Ken

2000-11-01

oscillating light `waves' had to be quantized as well. Several articles in this issue of Physics Education celebrate the first year of the quantum, 1900. I am grateful and beholden to Board Member and co-editor Gren Ireson for his contacts and nomination of the various contributors. It does seem strange, however, a full century after its discovery full of its amazing success that the essential quantum nature of practically everything is still kept hidden from school students, in the UK at least. Let's see what happens in the coming century. Now for another quantum leap. This is the last issue of Physics Education that I shall have the honour of editing. In fact, I shall leap into historical obscurity as the very last honorary editor. Great efforts by your Editorial Board - over a fair number of years! - have resulted in a radical reorganizing of both the journal and the way it is produced. It's been an interesting five years, a time of falling numbers but quite radical innovations in post-16 physics education. IoPP and the IoP are working together to revitalize what may have been seen by many as a staid if respectable and authoritative publication. We shall keep the authority and even respectability but hope to liven things up a bit. The new editor is Kerry Parker of Sheffield College. She will take on a stronger role than I and my predecessors have had, and will be working at IoPP in Bristol two days a week. There are many obvious advantages in this, and I look forward to seeing the new design and approach that will start with the January 2000 issue. So, it's goodbye from me - and also from the unsung heroine of Physics Education for even longer. Managing Editor Dr Jill Membrey has been doing the really hard work at Bristol for many years, but is now moving on to other things at IoPP. I am extremely grateful for the highly professional care and support she has provided for myself and the Editorial Board over the years. The new Managing Editor is Andrea Pomroy, who arrives at

Flying fish accelerate at 5 G to leap from the water surface

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Patricia; Phonekeo, Sulisay; Xu, Ke; Chang, Shui-Kai; Hu, David

2013-11-01

Flying fish can both swim underwater and glide in air. Transitioning from swimming to gliding requires penetration of the air-water interface, or breaking the ``surface tension barrier,'' a formidable task for juvenile flying fish measuring 1 to 5 cm in length. In this experimental investigation, we use high-speed videography to characterize the kinematics of juvenile flying fish as they leap from the water surface. During this process, which lasts 0.05 seconds, flying fish achieve body accelerations of 5 times earth's gravity and gliding speeds of 1.3 m/s, an order of magnitude higher than their steady swimming speed. We rationalize this anomalously high speed on the basis of the hydrodynamic and surface tension forces and torques experienced by the fish. Specifically, leaping fish experience skin friction forces only on the submerged part of their body, permitting them to achieve much higher speeds than in steady underwater swimming. We also perform experiments using a towed flying fish mimc to determine optimality of various parameters in this process, including body angle and start position with respect to the water surface.

Data collection and field experiments at the Apache Leap research site. Annual report, May 1995--1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodhouse, E.G.; Bassett, R.L.; Neuman, S.P.; Chen, G.

1997-08-01

This report documents the research performed during the period May 1995-May 1996 for a project of the U.S. Regulatory Commission (sponsored contract NRC-04-090-051) by the University of Arizona. The project manager for this research in Thomas J. Nicholson, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The objectives of this research were to examine hypotheses and test alternative conceptual models concerning unsaturated flow and transport through fractured rock, and to design and execute confirmatory field and laboratory experiments to test these hypotheses and conceptual models at the Apache Leap Research Site near Superior, Arizona. Each chapter in this report summarizes research related to a specific set of objectives and can be read and interpreted as a separate entity. Topics include: crosshole pneumatic and gaseous tracer field and modeling experiments designed to help validate the applicability of contiuum geostatistical and stochastic concepts, theories, models, and scaling relations relevant to unsaturated flow and transport in fractured porous tuffs; use of geochemistry and aquifer testing to evaluate fracture flow and perching mechanisms; investigations of 234 U/ 238 U fractionation to evaluate leaching selectivity; and transport and modeling of both conservative and non-conservative tracers

Leap Motion Gesture Control With Carestream Software in the Operating Room to Control Imaging: Installation Guide and Discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauchot, Julien; Di Tommaso, Laetitia; Lounis, Ahmed; Benassarou, Mourad; Mathieu, Pierre; Bernot, Dominique; Aubry, Sébastien

2015-12-01

Nowadays, routine cross-sectional imaging viewing during a surgical procedure requires physical contact with an interface (mouse or touch-sensitive screen). Such contact risks exposure to aseptic conditions and causes loss of time. Devices such as the recently introduced Leap Motion (Leap Motion Society, San Francisco, CA), which enables interaction with the computer without any physical contact, are of wide interest in the field of surgery, but configuration and ergonomics are key challenges for the practitioner, imaging software, and surgical environment. This article aims to suggest an easy configuration of Leap Motion on a PC for optimized use with Carestream Vue PACS v11.3.4 (Carestream Health, Inc, Rochester, NY) using a plug-in (to download at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_F4eBeBQc3yNENvTXlnY09qS00&authuser=0) and a video tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVPTgxg-SIk). Videos of surgical procedure and discussion about innovative gesture control technology and its various configurations are provided in this article. © The Author(s) 2015.

Relations of Perceived Parent and Friend Support for Recreational Reading with Children's Reading Motivations

Science.gov (United States)

Klauda, Susan Lutz; Wigfield, Allan

2012-01-01

This study examined elementary school students' perceived support for recreational reading from their mothers, fathers, and friends. Participants, including 130 fourth graders and 172 fifth graders, completed the researcher-developed Reading Support Survey, which assesses how often children experience and how greatly they enjoy multiple types of…

Development of excavator training simulator using leap motion controller

Science.gov (United States)

Fahmi, F.; Nainggolan, F.; Andayani, U.; Siregar, B.

2018-03-01

Excavator is a heavy machinery that is used for many industries purposes. Controlling the excavator is not easy. Its operator has to be trained well in many skills to make sure it is safe, effective, and efficient while using the excavator. In this research, we proposed a virtual reality excavator simulator supported by a device called Leap Motion Controller that supports finger and hand motions as an input. This prototype will be developed than in the virtual reality environment to give a more real sensing to the user.

CSAF Reading List 2014

Science.gov (United States)

... Undaunted Zero Dark Thirty 101109-F-RH756-737 Raptor's Reveille Featured Books Featured Films Featured Art House To House House To House by David Bellavia and John Bruning One of the great heroes of the Iraq War /McMillan/Switzler Read More... Fearless Book: Fearless by Eric Blehm Read More... Zero Dark Thirty Zero

Gas, benefits and question marks. The Oklo reactors: 100 % natural. The Kyoto protocol: use it or lose it?. Small hydro power: a great leap forward. The energy mix of South Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2005-01-01

This issue of Alternatives newsletter contains a main press-kit about natural gas economics worldwide and 4 articles dealing with the Oklo natural reactor, the Kyoto protocol, the small hydro-power in China, and the energy mix of South Korea: 1 - 'Gas benefits and question marks': The world's most widely distributed fossil fuel, natural gas is also the fastest-growing energy source of the past thirty years. Its position as the fuel of choice in the global energy mix is due in large part to its many domestic and industrial applications. 2 - 'The Oklo reactors: 100% natural': Another look at this extraordinary 2 billion year-old phenomenon in words and pictures: the nuclear fission reaction that created the natural reactors of Gabon. 3 - 'The Kyoto Protocol: use it or lose it?': Nearly eight years after its signature, the Kyoto Protocol is still hotly debated. Two experts give us their views: Spencer Abraham, former U.S. Secretary for Energy, and Jean-Charles Hourcade of CIRED, the international center for research on the environment and development. 4 - 'Small hydro power: a great leap forward': The Chinese government has responded to the need for rural electrification with an aid program for the country's poorest cantons. Enter the small hydro plant in northern Guangxi province. 5 - 'The energy mix of South Korea': Faced with continuing strong economic growth and energy demand, South Korea has multiplied its projects, from hydropower to tidal power to nuclear and even hydrogen in the longer term

China's "Great Leap" toward Madison Avenue.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Michael H.

1981-01-01

Examines the expanding use of advertising in China. Discusses the impact of transnational corporations in communication and other areas on the development of China, and the implications that the introduction of advertising has for China's role as one of the models for developing countries. (JMF)

The long-term forecast of Taiwan's energy supply and demand: LEAP model application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Yophy, E-mail: yohuanghaka@gmail.com [Deptartment of Public Finance and Tax Administration, National Taipei College of Business, Taipei Taiwan, 10051 (China); Bor, Yunchang Jeffrey [Deptartment of Economics, Chinese Culture University, Yang-Ming-Shan, Taipei, 11114, Taiwan (China); Peng, Chieh-Yu [Statistics Department, Taoyuan District Court, No. 1 Fazhi Road, Taoyuan City 33053, Taiwan (China)

2011-11-15

The long-term forecasting of energy supply and demand is an extremely important topic of fundamental research in Taiwan due to Taiwan's lack of natural resources, dependence on energy imports, and the nation's pursuit of sustainable development. In this article, we provide an overview of energy supply and demand in Taiwan, and a summary of the historical evolution and current status of its energy policies, as background to a description of the preparation and application of a Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model of Taiwan's energy sector. The Taiwan LEAP model is used to compare future energy demand and supply patterns, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, for several alternative scenarios of energy policy and energy sector evolution. Results of scenarios featuring 'business-as-usual' policies, aggressive energy-efficiency improvement policies, and on-schedule retirement of Taiwan's three existing nuclear plants are provided and compared, along with sensitivity cases exploring the impacts of lower economic growth assumptions. A concluding section provides an interpretation of the implications of model results for future energy and climate policies in Taiwan. - Research Highlights: > The LEAP model is useful for international energy policy comparison. > Nuclear power plants have significant, positive impacts on CO{sub 2} emission. > The most effective energy policy is to adopt demand-side management. > Reasonable energy pricing provides incentives for energy efficiency and conservation. > Financial crisis has less impact on energy demand than aggressive energy policy.

[A new human machine interface in neurosurgery: The Leap Motion(®). Technical note regarding a new touchless interface].

Science.gov (United States)

Di Tommaso, L; Aubry, S; Godard, J; Katranji, H; Pauchot, J

2016-06-01

Currently, cross-sectional imaging viewing is used in routine practice whereas the surgical procedure requires physical contact with an interface (mouse or touch-sensitive screen). This type of contact results in a risk of lack of aseptic control and causes loss of time. The recent appearance of devices such as the Leap Motion(®) (Leap Motion society, San Francisco, USA) a sensor which enables to interact with the computer without any physical contact is of major interest in the field of surgery. However, its configuration and ergonomics produce key challenges in order to adapt to the practitioner's requirements, the imaging software as well as the surgical environment. This article aims to suggest an easy configuration of the Leap Motion(®) in neurosurgery on a PC for an optimized utilization with Carestream(®) Vue PACS v11.3.4 (Carestream Health, Inc., Rochester, USA) using a plug-in (to download at: https://drive.google.com/?usp=chrome_app#folders/0B_F4eBeBQc3ybElEeEhqME5DQkU) and a video tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVPTgxg-SIk). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Dyslexia and Severe Reading Disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngandu, Kathleen M.

This handbook contains advice for the teacher in diagnosing dyslexia and developing an individualized program for overcoming severe reading problems. Observable characteristics of dyslexia are listed as an aid to the teacher's diagnosis, but it is emphasized that cooperation between the teacher and a reading specialist is of great importance in…

The reading habits of parents of preschool children

OpenAIRE

Jalovec, Alenka

2011-01-01

The reading habits of parents of preschool children are very important for development of reading literacy. The role of parents in reading is very high. It is important that parents often read for themselves and for their children regardless of age, sex and education. With reading they are giving the children an example and attach great importance to reading. An important factor is the frequency of library visits and dealing with books. On the reading habits of parents have important influenc...

Identification of a low copy number plasmid in Xylella fastidiosa Strain Stag’s Leap

Science.gov (United States)

Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) causes Pierce’s Disease (PD) in grapevine. The Stag’s Leap strain is known for its high virulence level and is a model for PD research. Research on Xf has been difficult due to its nutritional fastidiousness. One difficult research issue is the low copy number plasmid. Plasmi...

Reading and Teaching the Novel, Volume 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Roslyn M., Ed.

This volume on reading and teaching the novel contains six articles: "Close Reading: The Novel in the Senior School" by S. E. Lee discusses the advantages of rereading and analytical reading in high school; "Teaching 'The Great Gatsby'" by David Mallick discusses the difficulties of teaching this novel and provides a lesson plan; "The Operation of…

Choice of reference sequence and assembler for alignment of Listeria monocytogenes short-read sequence data greatly influences rates of error in SNP analyses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur W Pightling

Full Text Available The wide availability of whole-genome sequencing (WGS and an abundance of open-source software have made detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs in bacterial genomes an increasingly accessible and effective tool for comparative analyses. Thus, ensuring that real nucleotide differences between genomes (i.e., true SNPs are detected at high rates and that the influences of errors (such as false positive SNPs, ambiguously called sites, and gaps are mitigated is of utmost importance. The choices researchers make regarding the generation and analysis of WGS data can greatly influence the accuracy of short-read sequence alignments and, therefore, the efficacy of such experiments. We studied the effects of some of these choices, including: i depth of sequencing coverage, ii choice of reference-guided short-read sequence assembler, iii choice of reference genome, and iv whether to perform read-quality filtering and trimming, on our ability to detect true SNPs and on the frequencies of errors. We performed benchmarking experiments, during which we assembled simulated and real Listeria monocytogenes strain 08-5578 short-read sequence datasets of varying quality with four commonly used assemblers (BWA, MOSAIK, Novoalign, and SMALT, using reference genomes of varying genetic distances, and with or without read pre-processing (i.e., quality filtering and trimming. We found that assemblies of at least 50-fold coverage provided the most accurate results. In addition, MOSAIK yielded the fewest errors when reads were aligned to a nearly identical reference genome, while using SMALT to align reads against a reference sequence that is ∼0.82% distant from 08-5578 at the nucleotide level resulted in the detection of the greatest numbers of true SNPs and the fewest errors. Finally, we show that whether read pre-processing improves SNP detection depends upon the choice of reference sequence and assembler. In total, this study demonstrates that researchers

Great Books. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

Science.gov (United States)

What Works Clearinghouse, 2011

2011-01-01

"Great Books" is a program that aims to improve the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills of students in kindergarten through high school. The program is implemented as a core or complementary curriculum and is based on the Shared Inquiry[TM] method of learning. The purpose of "Great Books" is to engage students in…

Examining the Reading of Informational Text in 4th Grade Class and Its Relation with Students' Reading Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dan; Beecher, Constance; Cho, Byeong-Young

2018-01-01

Being proficient in independently reading and writing complex informational text has become a need for college and career success. While there is a great deal of agreement on the importance of the reading of informational text in early grades and teachers are encouraged to increase amount of the reading of informational text in early grades, few…

Leaping shampoo glides on a lubricating air layer

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S.; Li, E. Q.; Marston, J. O.; Bonito, A.; Thoroddsen, S. T.

2013-06-01

When a stream of shampoo is fed onto a pool in one's hand, a jet can leap sideways or rebound from the liquid surface in an intriguing phenomenon known as the Kaye effect. Earlier studies have debated whether non-Newtonian effects are the underlying cause of this phenomenon, making the jet glide on top of a shear-thinning liquid layer, or whether an entrained air layer is responsible. Herein we show unambiguously that the jet slides on a lubricating air layer. We identify this layer by looking through the pool liquid and observing its rupture into fine bubbles. The resulting microbubble sizes suggest this air layer is of submicron thickness. This thickness estimate is also supported by the tangential deceleration of the jet during the rebounding.

Leaping shampoo glides on a lubricating air layer

KAUST Repository

Lee, S.

2013-06-10

When a stream of shampoo is fed onto a pool in one\\'s hand, a jet can leap sideways or rebound from the liquid surface in an intriguing phenomenon known as the Kaye effect. Earlier studies have debated whether non-Newtonian effects are the underlying cause of this phenomenon, making the jet glide on top of a shear-thinning liquid layer, or whether an entrained air layer is responsible. Herein we show unambiguously that the jet slides on a lubricating air layer. We identify this layer by looking through the pool liquid and observing its rupture into fine bubbles. The resulting microbubble sizes suggest this air layer is of submicron thickness. This thickness estimate is also supported by the tangential deceleration of the jet during the rebounding.

Leaping shampoo glides on a lubricating air layer

KAUST Repository

Lee, S.; Li, Erqiang; Marston, J. O.; Bonito, A.; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T

2013-01-01

When a stream of shampoo is fed onto a pool in one's hand, a jet can leap sideways or rebound from the liquid surface in an intriguing phenomenon known as the Kaye effect. Earlier studies have debated whether non-Newtonian effects are the underlying cause of this phenomenon, making the jet glide on top of a shear-thinning liquid layer, or whether an entrained air layer is responsible. Herein we show unambiguously that the jet slides on a lubricating air layer. We identify this layer by looking through the pool liquid and observing its rupture into fine bubbles. The resulting microbubble sizes suggest this air layer is of submicron thickness. This thickness estimate is also supported by the tangential deceleration of the jet during the rebounding.

Does LEAP change the screening paradigm for food allergy in infants with eczema?

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, K J; Koplin, J J

2016-01-01

The LEAP randomized controlled trial provides the first direct evidence that delayed introduction of peanut in an infant's diet significantly increases the risk of peanut allergy. However, as often is the case in ground-breaking research, the LEAP study raises almost as many questions as it resolves. Although the quality of design and excellence in study execution is unquestioned, the particular difficulty this study raises is how to generalize results from a trial of high-risk infants, which screened infants for the presence of peanut allergy prior to peanut introduction, to the general population. Although many existing infant feeding guidelines already allow for the introduction of allergenic foods from 4 to 6 months of age irrespective of co-existent risk factors for peanut allergy, these will now need to be revised to more strongly state that avoidance may be harmful. Interim guidelines have already been published which incorporate these recommendations. However, the question as to how to achieve timely introduction of peanut into an infant's diet in a safe and cost-effective way, particularly in high-risk infants, remains unresolved. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An improved shuffled frog leaping algorithm based evolutionary framework for currency exchange rate prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Dash, Rajashree

2017-11-01

Forecasting purchasing power of one currency with respect to another currency is always an interesting topic in the field of financial time series prediction. Despite the existence of several traditional and computational models for currency exchange rate forecasting, there is always a need for developing simpler and more efficient model, which will produce better prediction capability. In this paper, an evolutionary framework is proposed by using an improved shuffled frog leaping (ISFL) algorithm with a computationally efficient functional link artificial neural network (CEFLANN) for prediction of currency exchange rate. The model is validated by observing the monthly prediction measures obtained for three currency exchange data sets such as USD/CAD, USD/CHF, and USD/JPY accumulated within same period of time. The model performance is also compared with two other evolutionary learning techniques such as Shuffled frog leaping algorithm and Particle Swarm optimization algorithm. Practical analysis of results suggest that, the proposed model developed using the ISFL algorithm with CEFLANN network is a promising predictor model for currency exchange rate prediction compared to other models included in the study.

EFL Learners' Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mekhlafi, Abdo Mohammed

2018-01-01

Reading, a literacy skill, is of great importance to all educational systems. Even in tertiary education, many EFL learners have trouble in reading academic texts in English, as they are often found to be using ineffective reading strategies. A review of relevant literature provides insights into a range of issues relating to the teaching of…

Enrofloxacin and Probiotic Lactobacilli Influence PepT1 and LEAP-2 mRNA Expression in Poultry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pavlova, Ivelina; Milanova, Aneliya; Danova, Svetla; Fink-Gremmels, Johanna

2016-01-01

Expression of peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) and liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2) in chickens can be influenced by food deprivation, pathological conditions and drug administration. Effect of three putative probiotic Lactobacillus strains and enrofloxacin on the expression of PepT1

Marcus canonical integral for non-Gaussian processes and its computation: pathwise simulation and tau-leaping algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tiejun; Min, Bin; Wang, Zhiming

2013-03-14

The stochastic integral ensuring the Newton-Leibnitz chain rule is essential in stochastic energetics. Marcus canonical integral has this property and can be understood as the Wong-Zakai type smoothing limit when the driving process is non-Gaussian. However, this important concept seems not well-known for physicists. In this paper, we discuss Marcus integral for non-Gaussian processes and its computation in the context of stochastic energetics. We give a comprehensive introduction to Marcus integral and compare three equivalent definitions in the literature. We introduce the exact pathwise simulation algorithm and give the error analysis. We show how to compute the thermodynamic quantities based on the pathwise simulation algorithm. We highlight the information hidden in the Marcus mapping, which plays the key role in determining thermodynamic quantities. We further propose the tau-leaping algorithm, which advance the process with deterministic time steps when tau-leaping condition is satisfied. The numerical experiments and its efficiency analysis show that it is very promising.

A great leap forward in microbial ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Okabe, Satoshi; Oshiki, Mamoru; Kamagata, Yoichi; Yamaguchi, Nobuyasu; Toyofuku, Masanori; Yawata, Yutaka; Tashiro, Yosuke; Nomura, Nobuhiko; Ohta, Hiroyuki; Ohkuma, Moriya; Hiraishi, Akira; Minamisawa, Kiwamu

2010-01-01

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequence-based molecular techniques emerged in the late 1980s, which completely changed our general view of microbial life. Coincidentally, the Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology (JSME) was founded, and its official journal "Microbes and Environments (M&E)" was launched, in 1985. Thus, the past 25 years have been an exciting and fruitful period for M&E readers and microbiologists as demonstrated by the numerous excellent papers published in M&E. In this minireview, recent progress made in microbial ecology and related fields is summarized, with a special emphasis on 8 landmark areas; the cultivation of uncultured microbes, in situ methods for the assessment of microorganisms and their activities, biofilms, plant microbiology, chemolithotrophic bacteria in early volcanic environments, symbionts of animals and their ecology, wastewater treatment microbiology, and the biodegradation of hazardous organic compounds.

When climate twitches, evolution takes great leaps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerr, R.A.

1992-01-01

Earth's climate system has ridden a slow roller coaster for the past 60 million years. It warmed gradually until about 53 million years ago, reaching a peak that brought crocodiles to northern Canada; then it entered a long, undulating downgrade toward the ice-age world of the past few million years. Because the same span of time brought major evolutionary changes, including the rise of modern mammals, paleontologists have long assumed that these slow temperature changes helped spur the processes of evolution. But recent findings have suggested that another, more potent mechanisms was also at work: Abrupt climate excursions, superimposed on these long-term trends, have now been linked to rapid periods of mammal evolution. The evidence for short, sharp evolutionary shocks comes from studies of a pair of mirror-image climate shifts at opposite ends of the Eocene epoch, 55 million and 33.5 million years ago. In both cases, researchers studying the record of climate preserved in sea-floor sediments have found that a gradual climate change-warming in the first case, cooling in the second - suddenly steepened into a short-lived pulse of extreme warming or cooling. The short time scale of these events and their clear coincidence with turning points in the evolution of mammals are providing the tightest links yet between global climate change and evolution on land

Teaching Reading Skills In Iain Sultan Amai Gorontalo

OpenAIRE

Hasan, Jhems Richard

2014-01-01

The importance of reading in IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo cannot be denied. Tomake the students fit nationally and internationally, their reading skills must beof an advanced level. If reading skills are improved, learners will be able toutilize maximum resources for acquiring knowledge and information, and it willchange the whole educational scenario of the Institute. So, the present study on€˜An Evaluation of the Teaching of Reading Skills in IAIN Sultan AmaiGorontalo€™ is of great importance...

A Nordic comparison of national objectives for reading instruction and teachers' responses about actual reading practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rønberg, Louise; Mejding, Jan

2014-01-01

and functional goals in Finland. It appears that the Finnish descriptions are more aligned with current empirical research on reading comprehension. Swedish and Norwegian teachers have the most varied used of both literary and informational text types during a week, whereas Finnish teachers give informational...... texts a higher priority than literary texts – and the opposite is apparent for Danish teachers. The Finnish and Norwegian teachers prioritise activities that enhance students’ oral reading fluency, which is important for reading comprehension development, to a greater extent than teachers in Denmark......This article presents a comparison of the Nordic countries’ official objectives for reading and analyses of 1005 Nordic teachers’ responses regarding their reading instruction. The specificity and transparency vary greatly in the objectives, from broad outlines in Norway to more specific...

An Examination of Offline And Online Reading Strategies in EFL Contexts

OpenAIRE

Ching-Yi Tien; Paul Talley

2014-01-01

With the increasing use of the internet for reading texts, the habit of reading has been greatly influenced. More and more readers are choosing to read online rather than reading paper texts. In a pedagogical context, some research suggest that an increased number of second language (L2) classrooms are engaging learners through online reading tasks. This paper aims to examine the differences between offline (paper) reading and online (computer-assisted language learning) reading strategies as...

The Great Gatsby. [Lesson Plan].

Science.gov (United States)

Zelasko, Ken

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that adapting part of a novel into a dramatic reading makes students more intimate with the author's intentions and craft; and that a part of a novel may lend itself to various oral interpretations. The main activity…

LAMI: A gesturally controlled three-dimensional stage Leap (Motion-based) Audio Mixing Interface

OpenAIRE

Wakefield, Jonathan P.; Dewey, Christopher; Gale, William

2017-01-01

Interface designers are increasingly exploring alternative approaches to user input/control. LAMI is a Leap (Motion-based) AMI which takes user’s hand gestures and maps these to a three-dimensional stage displayed on a computer monitor. Audio channels are visualised as spheres whose Y coordinate is spectral centroid and X and Z coordinates are controlled by hand position and represent pan and level respectively. Auxiliary send levels are controlled via wrist rotation and vertical hand positio...

Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm for Preemptive Project Scheduling Problems with Resource Vacations Based on Patterson Set

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Han

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA for the single-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem where activities can be divided into equant units and interrupted during processing. Each activity consumes 0–3 types of resources which are renewable and temporarily not available due to resource vacations in each period. The presence of scarce resources and precedence relations between activities makes project scheduling a difficult and important task in project management. A recent popular metaheuristic shuffled frog leaping algorithm, which is enlightened by the predatory habit of frog group in a small pond, is adopted to investigate the project makespan improvement on Patterson benchmark sets which is composed of different small and medium size projects. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of SFLA in reducing project makespan and minimizing activity splitting number within an average CPU runtime, 0.521 second. This paper exposes all the scheduling sequences for each project and shows that of the 23 best known solutions have been improved.

Measurements by A LEAP-Based Virtual Glove for the Hand Rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Placidi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Hand rehabilitation is fundamental after stroke or surgery. Traditional rehabilitation requires a therapist and implies high costs, stress for the patient, and subjective evaluation of the therapy effectiveness. Alternative approaches, based on mechanical and tracking-based gloves, can be really effective when used in virtual reality (VR environments. Mechanical devices are often expensive, cumbersome, patient specific and hand specific, while tracking-based devices are not affected by these limitations but, especially if based on a single tracking sensor, could suffer from occlusions. In this paper, the implementation of a multi-sensors approach, the Virtual Glove (VG, based on the simultaneous use of two orthogonal LEAP motion controllers, is described. The VG is calibrated and static positioning measurements are compared with those collected with an accurate spatial positioning system. The positioning error is lower than 6 mm in a cylindrical region of interest of radius 10 cm and height 21 cm. Real-time hand tracking measurements are also performed, analysed and reported. Hand tracking measurements show that VG operated in real-time (60 fps, reduced occlusions, and managed two LEAP sensors correctly, without any temporal and spatial discontinuity when skipping from one sensor to the other. A video demonstrating the good performance of VG is also collected and presented in the Supplementary Materials. Results are promising but further work must be done to allow the calculation of the forces exerted by each finger when constrained by mechanical tools (e.g., peg-boards and for reducing occlusions when grasping these tools. Although the VG is proposed for rehabilitation purposes, it could also be used for tele-operation of tools and robots, and for other VR applications.

Measurements by A LEAP-Based Virtual Glove for the Hand Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Placidi, Giuseppe; Cinque, Luigi; Polsinelli, Matteo; Spezialetti, Matteo

2018-03-10

Hand rehabilitation is fundamental after stroke or surgery. Traditional rehabilitation requires a therapist and implies high costs, stress for the patient, and subjective evaluation of the therapy effectiveness. Alternative approaches, based on mechanical and tracking-based gloves, can be really effective when used in virtual reality (VR) environments. Mechanical devices are often expensive, cumbersome, patient specific and hand specific, while tracking-based devices are not affected by these limitations but, especially if based on a single tracking sensor, could suffer from occlusions. In this paper, the implementation of a multi-sensors approach, the Virtual Glove (VG), based on the simultaneous use of two orthogonal LEAP motion controllers, is described. The VG is calibrated and static positioning measurements are compared with those collected with an accurate spatial positioning system. The positioning error is lower than 6 mm in a cylindrical region of interest of radius 10 cm and height 21 cm. Real-time hand tracking measurements are also performed, analysed and reported. Hand tracking measurements show that VG operated in real-time (60 fps), reduced occlusions, and managed two LEAP sensors correctly, without any temporal and spatial discontinuity when skipping from one sensor to the other. A video demonstrating the good performance of VG is also collected and presented in the Supplementary Materials. Results are promising but further work must be done to allow the calculation of the forces exerted by each finger when constrained by mechanical tools (e.g., peg-boards) and for reducing occlusions when grasping these tools. Although the VG is proposed for rehabilitation purposes, it could also be used for tele-operation of tools and robots, and for other VR applications.

Detection and characterization of pXFSL21, a novel single-copy plasmid from Xylella fastidiosa Strain Stag’s Leap

Science.gov (United States)

Xylella fastidiosa Strain Stag’s Leap, originally isolated from Napa Valley, California, is highly virulent in causing Pierce’s Disease (PD) of grapevine. Plasmids are extrachromosomal genetic elements associated with bacterial environmental adaptation such as virulence development. In this study, t...

LEAP: local environmental action plan. Municipality of Lipkovo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

This document comprises all geo-environmental problems with adverse on the quality of the overall environment. Based on this, the document contains many scientific and expert statements and facts supported by data, diagrams maps, etc. At the same time, taking into consideration the problems appearing on the territory of Lipkovo Municipality, the environmental problems are by their priority presented as issues of first, second and third degree, requiring most urgent settlement through the leap document for the Municipality of Lipkovo. This is followed by the presentation of priorities and the strategy for elimination of degradation processes and establishment of environmental balance in the space. According to the current data, it seems that this Municipality is faced with numerous environmental problems, beginning with air pollution, water contamination, solid waste disposal, the landfill of the abandoned mine Lojane and the site around the Railroad Station at Tabanovci, supply of drinking water, destruction of forests, expansion of rural settlements over cultivable lands, the issue of space urbanization, unemployment, etc

Touch-free, gesture-based control of medical devices and software based on the leap motion controller.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauser, Stanislas; Burgert, Oliver

2014-01-01

There are several intra-operative use cases which require the surgeon to interact with medical devices. We used the Leap Motion Controller as input device and implemented two use-cases: 2D-Interaction (e.g. advancing EPR data) and selection of a value (e.g. room illumination brightness). The gesture detection was successful and we mapped its output to several devices and systems.

Estimation of radiative parameters in participating media using shuffled frog leaping algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ren Ya-Tao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The transient radiative transfer in 1-D homogeneous media with ultra-short Gaussian pulse laser irradiated was investigation by the finite volume method. The concept of optimal detection distance was proposed. The radiation characteristic was studied thoroughly. Afterwards, a memetic meta-heuristic shuffled frog leaping algorithm was introduced to inverse transient radiative problems. It is demonstrated that the extinction coefficient and scattering albedo can be retrieved accurately even with noisy data in a homogeneous absorbing and isotropic scattering plane-parallel slab. Finally, a technique was proposed to accelerate the inverse process by reducing the searching space of the radiative parameters.

Research on Eye Movement Tracking in ESL Reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenlian ZHAN

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Eye movement behavior in reading can reflect on-line cognitive process. Through the on-line measure of eye movement, under relatively natural reading condition, data of the reader’ s eye movement in the text can be obtained in processing information, and thus help to reveal the internal cognitive mechanisms in reading. With the development of intelligentization, serialization and portable direction in eye tracker, there exist great number of studies on eye movement tracking, but studies on eye movement features in ESL reading are rare. In such circumstances, this paper mainly illustrates eye movement patterns, the relationship between eye movement and perceptual processing, and eye movement control in ESL reading.

Wind-powered wheel locomotion, initiated by leaping somersaults, in larvae of the southeastern beach tiger beetle (Cicindela dorsalis media.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Harvey

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Rapid movement is challenging for elongate, soft-bodied animals with short or no legs. Leaping is known for only a few animals with this "worm-like" morphology. Wheel locomotion, in which the animal's entire body rolls forward along a central axis, has been reported for only a handful of animals worldwide. Here we present the first documented case of wind-powered wheel locomotion, in larvae of the coastal tiger beetle Cicindela dorsalis media. When removed from their shallow burrows, larvae easily can be induced to enter a behavioral sequence that starts with leaping; while airborne, larvae loop their body into a rotating wheel and usually either "hit the ground rolling" or leap again. The direction larvae wheel is closely related to the direction in which winds are blowing; thus, all our larvae wheeled up-slope, as winds at our study site consistently blew from sea to land. Stronger winds increased both the proportion of larvae wheeling, and the distance traveled, exceeding 60 m in some cases. In addition, the proportion of larvae that wheel and the distance traveled by wheeling larvae are significantly greater on smooth sandy beaches than on beach surfaces made rough and irregular by pedestrian, equestrian, and vehicular traffic. Like other coastal species of tiger beetles, C. dorsalis media has suffered major declines in recent years that are clearly correlated with increased human impacts. The present study suggests that the negative effects of beach traffic may be indirect, preventing larvae from escaping from predators using wheel locomotion by disrupting the flat, hard surface necessary for efficient wheeling.

Monitoring urban transport air pollution and energy demand in Rawalpindi and Islamabad using leap model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shabbir, Rabia; Ahmad, Sheikh Saeed [Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi (Pakistan)

2010-05-15

A research associated with urban transportation was carried out in Rawalpindi and Islamabad to analyze the status of emission of air pollutants and energy demands. The study included a discussion of past trends and future scenarios in order to reduce the future emissions. A simple model of passenger transport has been developed using computer based software called Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP). The LEAP model was used to estimate total energy demand and the vehicular emissions for the base year 2000 and extrapolated till 2030 for the future predictions. Transport database in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, together with fuel consumption values for the vehicle types and emission factors of NO{sub x}, SO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} corresponding to the actual vehicle types, formed the basis of the transport demand, energy consumption and total emission calculations. Apart from base scenario, the model was run under three alternative scenarios to study the impact of different urban transport policy initiatives that would reduce energy demand and emissions in transport sector of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The prime objective was to arrive at an optimal transport policy, which limits the future growth of fuel consumption as well as air pollution. (author)

Terapia baseada em realidade virtual usando o leap motion controller para reabilitação do membro superior após acidente vascular cerebral = Virtual reality therapy using the leap motion controller for post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation Virtual reality therapy using the Leap Motion Controller for post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soares, Nayron Medeiros

2017-01-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a aplicabilidade de um sensor de movimento, baseado em realidade virtual, para promover a reabilitação do membro superior após um acidente vascular cerebral. RELATO DOS CASOS: Três pacientes após acidente vascular cerebral realizaram um treino para reabilitação do membro superior com realidade virtual usando a tecnologia Leap Motion Controller e o jogo Playground 3D®, durante três dias consecutivos. No primeiro e no terceiro dia, foram avaliados com os testes Caixa e Blocos, Coordenação Óculo-Manual de Melo e Estimulação Magnética Transcraniana. No último dia, foram aplicadas Fichas de Avaliação da Experiência do paciente. Após o treinamento proposto, observou-se diminuição do limiar motor em ambos os hemisférios cerebrais e melhores desempenhos nos testes que avaliaram a habilidade manual e óculo-manual. A terapia proposta foi bem recebida pelos pacientes testados. CONCLUSÕES: Não foram observados efeitos adversos e os resultados mostram-se promissores e precisos no treinamento realizado com realidade virtual usando a tecnologia Leap Motion Controller e o jogo Playground 3D®. O treinamento proporcionou uma participação ativa dos pacientes na reabilitação das sequelas de extremidade superior após um acidente vascular cerebral

SSR: Its Effects on Students' Reading Habits after They Complete the Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiesendanger, Katherine D.; Bader, Lois

1989-01-01

Studies the effect of sustained silent reading (SSR) on recreational reading habits after termination of instruction. Finds that SSR students read more than those not in the program, and that SSR has no impact on above average readers, great impact on average readers, and little impact on below average readers. (RS)

Read and Move: A New Approach to Read-Aloud Time in Primary Grades

Science.gov (United States)

Kreider, Carri S.

2018-01-01

Literacy is the foundation of education, and so modern education devotes significant school time to promoting and developing literacy. Yet we also need to ensure that young bodies and minds are ready to absorb their literacy lessons. Integrating physical exercise with reading activities in unique ways can be a great benefit to young learners.

Reading Maxwell in Conceptual Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Bonham, Scott W.

2018-05-01

An important aspect of science education involves helping students learn to read and communicate scientific information and arguments. In this note, I would like to share a resource that I have come across which I have found to be a useful tool for helping students improve those skills, learn content material, and acquaint them with a great scientist. Specifically, this is having non-science college students in my course Light, Color and Vision read and discuss a letter by James Clerk Maxwell entitled "On the Theory of Colours in Relation to Colour-Blindness" (see Fig. 1).

LEAPing on with language: An on-line language programme to support classroom teachers and parents of primary school children (aged 5-11 years).

Science.gov (United States)

Clare Allen, M; Kendrick, Andrew; Archbold, Sue; Harrigan, Suzanne

2014-05-01

The Leaping on with Language programme provides a combination of strategies and activities to accelerate children's spoken language use from simple sentences to complex language. Using a conversational philosophy it expands the building blocks of language (vocabulary, grammar, speech), whilst emphasising the importance of developing independent social communication and acknowledging a child's developing self esteem and self identity between the ages of 4-11. Three pilot projects evaluated the programme with a total of 51 delegates. The outcomes were hugely positive. Changes in behaviour were reported from the 3rd pilot 1 month later. Comments regarding the length of training, practical strategies and more film clips were implemented. Leaping on with language is now a free to access resource available on line.

An Exploratory Study of NNES Graduate Students' Reading Comprehension of English Journal Articles

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Kate Tzu-Ching

2017-01-01

The academic success of non-native English speaker (NNES) graduate students greatly relies on their ability to read and comprehend English journal articles (EJA). The purpose of this study was to identify NNES graduate students' comprehension difficulties and reading strategies when reading EJA. In addition, the study explored how the relationship…

Social  reading - the reader on digital margins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivona Despot

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Electronic books enrich the reading experience through a range of possibilities digital technology offers, such as commenting or adding content at the margin space, marking interesting chapters and sharing the content with other readers. The phenomenon of social reading emerges with the influence of technology in the sphere of reading books and creates interactions for readers with the content and other readers. The great potential of enriching the reading experience is visible in the digital platforms for social reading, where the interaction and the creation of new content encourages the development of new way of reading and creativity. These activities may contribute to better understanding of the text. This enhances the communication about the text thus revitalizing the content and moves the reading itself from private to public sphere. This paper will show how are the activities in the digital margins transformed into a good indicator of the reading behavior, as well as the importance and usefulness of such for publishers to create new publishing products and services.

Language differences in the brain network for reading in naturalistic story reading and lexical decision.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaojuan; Yang, Jianfeng; Yang, Jie; Mencl, W Einar; Shu, Hua; Zevin, Jason David

2015-01-01

Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about whether there could be a universal functional architecture for reading across languages. In order to study potential language differences in the neural networks that support reading skill, we collected fMRI data from readers of alphabetic (English) and morpho-syllabic (Chinese) writing systems during two reading tasks. In one, participants read short stories under conditions that approximate natural reading, and in the other, participants decided whether individual stimuli were real words or not. Prior work comparing these two writing systems has overwhelmingly used meta-linguistic tasks, generally supporting the conclusion that the reading system is organized differently for skilled readers of Chinese and English. We observed that language differences in the reading network were greatly dependent on task. In lexical decision, a pattern consistent with prior research was observed in which the Middle Frontal Gyrus (MFG) and right Fusiform Gyrus (rFFG) were more active for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior temporal sulcus was more active for English than for Chinese. We found a very different pattern of language effects in a naturalistic reading paradigm, during which significant differences were only observed in visual regions not typically considered specific to the reading network, and the middle temporal gyrus, which is thought to be important for direct mapping of orthography to semantics. Indeed, in areas that are often discussed as supporting distinct cognitive or linguistic functions between the two languages, we observed interaction. Specifically, language differences were most pronounced in MFG and rFFG during the lexical decision task, whereas no language differences were observed in these areas during silent reading of text for comprehension.

The Path to Competence: A Lifespan Developmental Perspective on Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Patricia A.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this document is to present a developmental model of reading that encompasses changes across the lifespan. The need for such a lifespan orientation toward reading within our educational institutions is great. Until we adopt this lifelong perspective, we continue to run the risk of turning out undeveloped, unmotivated, and uncritical…

Tips for Reading Tutors = Consejos para los Tutores en Lectura.

Science.gov (United States)

Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Reading is the basis for learning and school success. While reading is learned primarily in the classroom, many students need extra time and help. Research shows that tutoring is a great way for individuals and groups outside school to support learning, but effective tutoring requires appropriate training and careful planning. This brochure,…

Field studies at the Apache Leap Research Site in support of alternative conceptual models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodhouse, E.G.; Davidson, G.R.; Theis, C. [eds.] [and others

1997-08-01

This is a final technical report for a project of the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (sponsored contract NRC-04-090-51) with the University of Arizona. The contract was an optional extension that was initiated on July 21, 1994 and that expired on May 31, 1995. The project manager was Thomas J. Nicholson, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The objectives of this contract were to examine hypotheses and conceptual models concerning unsaturated flow and transport through fractured rock, and to design and execute confirmatory field and laboratory experiments to test these hypotheses and conceptual models at the Apache Leap Research Site near Superior, Arizona. The results discussed here are products of specific tasks that address a broad spectrum of issues related to flow and transport through fractures. Each chapter in this final report summarizes research related to a specific set of objectives and can be read and interpreted as a separate entity. The tasks include detection and characterization of historical rapid fluid flow through fractured rock and the relationship to perched water systems using environmental isotopic tracers of {sup 3}H and {sup 14}C, fluid- and rock-derived {sup 2343}U/{sup 238}U measurements, and geophysical data. The water balance in a small watershed at the ALRS demonstrates the methods of acounting for ET, and estimating the quantity of water available for infiltration through fracture networks. Grain density measurements were made for core-sized samples using a newly designed gas pycnometer. The distribution and magnitude of air permeability measurements have been measured in a three-dimensional setting; the subsequent geostatistical analysis is presented. Electronic versions of the data presented here are available from authors; more detailed discussions and analyses are available in technical publications referenced herein, or soon to appear in the professional literature.

Field studies at the Apache Leap Research Site in support of alternative conceptual models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodhouse, E.G.; Davidson, G.R.; Theis, C.

1997-08-01

This is a final technical report for a project of the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (sponsored contract NRC-04-090-51) with the University of Arizona. The contract was an optional extension that was initiated on July 21, 1994 and that expired on May 31, 1995. The project manager was Thomas J. Nicholson, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The objectives of this contract were to examine hypotheses and conceptual models concerning unsaturated flow and transport through fractured rock, and to design and execute confirmatory field and laboratory experiments to test these hypotheses and conceptual models at the Apache Leap Research Site near Superior, Arizona. The results discussed here are products of specific tasks that address a broad spectrum of issues related to flow and transport through fractures. Each chapter in this final report summarizes research related to a specific set of objectives and can be read and interpreted as a separate entity. The tasks include detection and characterization of historical rapid fluid flow through fractured rock and the relationship to perched water systems using environmental isotopic tracers of 3 H and 14 C, fluid- and rock-derived 2343 U/ 238 U measurements, and geophysical data. The water balance in a small watershed at the ALRS demonstrates the methods of acounting for ET, and estimating the quantity of water available for infiltration through fracture networks. Grain density measurements were made for core-sized samples using a newly designed gas pycnometer. The distribution and magnitude of air permeability measurements have been measured in a three-dimensional setting; the subsequent geostatistical analysis is presented. Electronic versions of the data presented here are available from authors; more detailed discussions and analyses are available in technical publications referenced herein, or soon to appear in the professional literature

Reading Makes Cents Resource Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lacie Ashby

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In today’s economy, it is more crucial than ever to focus our educational efforts on increasing financial literacy. Many young people are unskilled in managing their personal finances, yet this critical life skill will greatly affect their future economic well-being. Reading Makes Cents, developed by Penn State University, is an excellent resource to address this need. A reviewed and recommended curriculum by National 4-H, this complete, easy to use curriculum targets youth in grades 3-5 with a combination of financial literacy and reading. The curriculum explores basic money concepts such as spending, saving, and sharing money. Lessons incorporate hands-on activities and children’s literature to reinforce lesson objectives. With evaluation questions and family activities included, Reading Makes Cents is a perfect guide for educators to easily pick up and teach.

The Lifestyle Engagement Activity Program (LEAP): Implementing Social and Recreational Activity into Case-Managed Home Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Low, Lee-Fay; Baker, Jessica Rose; Harrison, Fleur; Jeon, Yun-Hee; Haertsch, Maggie; Camp, Cameron; Skropeta, Margaret

2015-12-01

The Lifestyle Engagement Activity Program (LEAP) incorporates social support and recreational activities into case-managed home care. This study's aim was to evaluate the effect of LEAP on engagement, mood, and behavior of home care clients, and on case managers and care workers. Quasi-experimental. Five Australian aged home care providers, including 2 specializing in care for ethnic minorities. Clients (n = 189) from 5 home care providers participated. The 12-month program had 3 components: (1) engaging support of management and staff; (2) a champion to drive practice change; (3) staff training. Case managers were trained to set meaningful social and/or recreational goals during care planning. Care workers were trained in good communication, to promote client independence and choice, and in techniques such as Montessori activities, reminiscence, music, physical activity, and humor. Data were collected 6 months before program commencement, at baseline, and 6 and 12 months. The Homecare Measure of Engagement Staff report and Client-Family interview were primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes were the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory; apathy, dysphoria, and agitation subscales of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Clinician Rating; the geriatric depression scale; UCLA loneliness scale; and home care satisfaction scale. Staff provided information on confidence in engaging clients and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Twelve months after program commencement, clients showed a significant increase in self- or family-reported client engagement (b = 5.39, t[113.09] = 3.93, P recreationally engage clients (b = 0.52, t(21.33) = 2.80, P = .011, b = 0.29, t(198.69) = 2.58, P = .011, respectively). There were no significant changes in care worker-rated client engagement or client or family self-complete measures of depression or loneliness (P > .05). Client and family self-rated apathy increased over 12 months (b = 0.04, t(43.36) = 3.06, P = .004; b = 3.63, t(34.70) = 2.20, P

Life on a Farm during the Great Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Musbach, Joan W.

2001-01-01

Presents a lesson plan for eighth-grade students where they learn about the Great Depression by studying rural life. Explains that the students explore farm records from June and December 1935 after reading an excerpt about rural life in the 1930s. Includes copies of the ledgers, photographs, and student handouts. (CMK)

Language differences in the brain network for reading in naturalistic story reading and lexical decision.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojuan Wang

Full Text Available Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about whether there could be a universal functional architecture for reading across languages. In order to study potential language differences in the neural networks that support reading skill, we collected fMRI data from readers of alphabetic (English and morpho-syllabic (Chinese writing systems during two reading tasks. In one, participants read short stories under conditions that approximate natural reading, and in the other, participants decided whether individual stimuli were real words or not. Prior work comparing these two writing systems has overwhelmingly used meta-linguistic tasks, generally supporting the conclusion that the reading system is organized differently for skilled readers of Chinese and English. We observed that language differences in the reading network were greatly dependent on task. In lexical decision, a pattern consistent with prior research was observed in which the Middle Frontal Gyrus (MFG and right Fusiform Gyrus (rFFG were more active for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior temporal sulcus was more active for English than for Chinese. We found a very different pattern of language effects in a naturalistic reading paradigm, during which significant differences were only observed in visual regions not typically considered specific to the reading network, and the middle temporal gyrus, which is thought to be important for direct mapping of orthography to semantics. Indeed, in areas that are often discussed as supporting distinct cognitive or linguistic functions between the two languages, we observed interaction. Specifically, language differences were most pronounced in MFG and rFFG during the lexical decision task, whereas no language differences were observed in these areas during silent reading of text for comprehension.

Literacy And Reward: Teachers’ Effort To Build Children Reading Habit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Arisandi Komang Widia

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Children at early levels of primary school require appropriate guidance in their initial reading skill. They need to be trained on how reading becomes an enjoyable routine activity. This study aimed at describing teachers’ effort to build children reading habit. This study employed a qualitative descriptive study and conducted at North Bali Bilingual School Bali. The data were collected through observations and interview. The findings of the study showed that there were several activities conducted by the teacher as efforts to build children reading habit. In terms of building students’ reading habit, the teacher used (1 Point-written in Reading Rocket Chart (PRRC, (2 Chip (white, yellow, green for appreciating good behaviour in reading and using English, (3 Certificate, (4 Class Reward, and (5 Free Play Time. With these efforts, it is evident that the students’ literacy improves and they exhibited great enthusiasm in their reading and studying literacy in the classroom.

How Reading Volume Affects both Reading Fluency and Reading Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard L. ALLINGTON

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Long overlooked, reading volume is actually central to the development of reading proficiencies, especially in the development of fluent reading proficiency. Generally no one in schools monitors the actual volume of reading that children engage in. We know that the commonly used commercial core reading programs provide only material that requires about 15 minutes of reading activity daily. The remaining 75 minute of reading lessons is filled with many other activities such as completing workbook pages or responding to low-level literal questions about what has been read. Studies designed to enhance the volume of reading that children do during their reading lessons demonstrate one way to enhance reading development. Repeated readings have been widely used in fostering reading fluency but wide reading options seem to work faster and more broadly in developing reading proficiencies, including oral reading fluency.

libgapmis: extending short-read alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Alachiotis, Nikolaos; Berger, Simon; Flouri, Tomáš; Pissis, Solon P; Stamatakis, Alexandros

2013-01-01

A wide variety of short-read alignment programmes have been published recently to tackle the problem of mapping millions of short reads to a reference genome, focusing on different aspects of the procedure such as time and memory efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy. These tools allow for a small number of mismatches in the alignment; however, their ability to allow for gaps varies greatly, with many performing poorly or not allowing them at all. The seed-and-extend strategy is applied in most short-read alignment programmes. After aligning a substring of the reference sequence against the high-quality prefix of a short read--the seed--an important problem is to find the best possible alignment between a substring of the reference sequence succeeding and the remaining suffix of low quality of the read--extend. The fact that the reads are rather short and that the gap occurrence frequency observed in various studies is rather low suggest that aligning (parts of) those reads with a single gap is in fact desirable. In this article, we present libgapmis, a library for extending pairwise short-read alignments. Apart from the standard CPU version, it includes ultrafast SSE- and GPU-based implementations. libgapmis is based on an algorithm computing a modified version of the traditional dynamic-programming matrix for sequence alignment. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the functions of the CPU version provided in this library accelerate the computations by a factor of 20 compared to other programmes. The analogous SSE- and GPU-based implementations accelerate the computations by a factor of 6 and 11, respectively, compared to the CPU version. The library also provides the user the flexibility to split the read into fragments, based on the observed gap occurrence frequency and the length of the read, thereby allowing for a variable, but bounded, number of gaps in the alignment. We present libgapmis, a library for extending pairwise short-read alignments. We

The Influence of Schema and Cultural Difference on L1 and L2 Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shi-sheng

2010-01-01

Reading in L1 shares numerous basic elements with reading in L2, and the processes also differ greatly. Intriguing questions involve whether there are two parallel cognitive processes at work, or whether there are processing strategies that accommodate both L1 and L2. This paper examines how reading in L1 is different from and similar to reading…

Structural Motion Grammar for Universal Use of Leap Motion: Amusement and Functional Contents Focused

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byungseok Lee

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Motions using Leap Motion controller are not standardized while the use of it is spreading in media contents. Each content defines its own motions, thereby creating confusion for users. Therefore, to alleviate user inconvenience, this study categorized the commonly used motion by Amusement and Functional Contents and defined the Structural Motion Grammar that can be universally used based on the classification. To this end, the Motion Lexicon was defined, which is a fundamental motion vocabulary, and an algorithm that enables real-time recognition of Structural Motion Grammar was developed. Moreover, the proposed method was verified by user evaluation and quantitative comparison tests.

Possible applications of the LEAP motion controller for more interactive simulated experiments in augmented or virtual reality

Science.gov (United States)

Wozniak, Peter; Vauderwange, Oliver; Mandal, Avikarsha; Javahiraly, Nicolas; Curticapean, Dan

2016-09-01

Practical exercises are a crucial part of many curricula. Even simple exercises can improve the understanding of the underlying subject. Most experimental setups require special hardware. To carry out e. g. a lens experiments the students need access to an optical bench, various lenses, light sources, apertures and a screen. In our previous publication we demonstrated the use of augmented reality visualization techniques in order to let the students prepare with a simulated experimental setup. Within the context of our intended blended learning concept we want to utilize augmented or virtual reality techniques for stationary laboratory exercises. Unlike applications running on mobile devices, stationary setups can be extended more easily with additional interfaces and thus allow for more complex interactions and simulations in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). The most significant difference is the possibility to allow interactions beyond touching a screen. The LEAP Motion controller is a small inexpensive device that allows for the tracking of the user's hands and fingers in three dimensions. It is conceivable to allow the user to interact with the simulation's virtual elements by the user's very hand position, movement and gesture. In this paper we evaluate possible applications of the LEAP Motion controller for simulated experiments in augmented and virtual reality. We pay particular attention to the devices strengths and weaknesses and want to point out useful and less useful application scenarios.

The Great Kanto earthquake and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakatsu, Hitoshi; Bina, Craig R.

How many recall the following striking sentence from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which appears on the second page of the novel, where Fitzgerald first introduces Gatsby? “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.”This line may have failed to focus our attention when we first read the book in our younger days. Now, however, as a Japanese seismologist and an American geophysicist (and student of Japanese culture), we would be greatly remiss for failing to take greater note of this statement. Indeed, as The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, it occurred to us that the earthquake Fitzgerald might have been thinking of was the Great Kanto earthquake, which occurred on September 1, 1923 and devastated the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Leap Motion-based virtual reality training for improving motor functional recovery of upper limbs and neural reorganization in subacute stroke patients

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zun-rong; Wang, Ping; Xing, Liang; Mei, Li-ping; Zhao, Jun; Zhang, Tong

2017-01-01

Virtual reality is nowadays used to facilitate motor recovery in stroke patients. Most virtual reality studies have involved chronic stroke patients; however, brain plasticity remains good in acute and subacute patients. Most virtual reality systems are only applicable to the proximal upper limbs (arms) because of the limitations of their capture systems. Nevertheless, the functional recovery of an affected hand is most difficult in the case of hemiparesis rehabilitation after a stroke. The recently developed Leap Motion controller can track the fine movements of both hands and fingers. Therefore, the present study explored the effects of a Leap Motion-based virtual reality system on subacute stroke. Twenty-six subacute stroke patients were assigned to an experimental group that received virtual reality training along with conventional occupational rehabilitation, and a control group that only received conventional rehabilitation. The Wolf motor function test (WMFT) was used to assess the motor function of the affected upper limb; functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the cortical activation. After four weeks of treatment, the motor functions of the affected upper limbs were significantly improved in all the patients, with the improvement in the experimental group being significantly better than in the control group. The action performance time in the WMFT significantly decreased in the experimental group. Furthermore, the activation intensity and the laterality index of the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex increased in both the experimental and control groups. These results confirmed that Leap Motion-based virtual reality training was a promising and feasible supplementary rehabilitation intervention, could facilitate the recovery of motor functions in subacute stroke patients. The study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR-OCH-12002238). PMID:29239328

Leap Motion-based virtual reality training for improving motor functional recovery of upper limbs and neural reorganization in subacute stroke patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zun-Rong; Wang, Ping; Xing, Liang; Mei, Li-Ping; Zhao, Jun; Zhang, Tong

2017-11-01

Virtual reality is nowadays used to facilitate motor recovery in stroke patients. Most virtual reality studies have involved chronic stroke patients; however, brain plasticity remains good in acute and subacute patients. Most virtual reality systems are only applicable to the proximal upper limbs (arms) because of the limitations of their capture systems. Nevertheless, the functional recovery of an affected hand is most difficult in the case of hemiparesis rehabilitation after a stroke. The recently developed Leap Motion controller can track the fine movements of both hands and fingers. Therefore, the present study explored the effects of a Leap Motion-based virtual reality system on subacute stroke. Twenty-six subacute stroke patients were assigned to an experimental group that received virtual reality training along with conventional occupational rehabilitation, and a control group that only received conventional rehabilitation. The Wolf motor function test (WMFT) was used to assess the motor function of the affected upper limb; functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the cortical activation. After four weeks of treatment, the motor functions of the affected upper limbs were significantly improved in all the patients, with the improvement in the experimental group being significantly better than in the control group. The action performance time in the WMFT significantly decreased in the experimental group. Furthermore, the activation intensity and the laterality index of the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex increased in both the experimental and control groups. These results confirmed that Leap Motion-based virtual reality training was a promising and feasible supplementary rehabilitation intervention, could facilitate the recovery of motor functions in subacute stroke patients. The study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR-OCH-12002238).

Leap Motion-based virtual reality training for improving motor functional recovery of upper limbs and neural reorganization in subacute stroke patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zun-rong Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Virtual reality is nowadays used to facilitate motor recovery in stroke patients. Most virtual reality studies have involved chronic stroke patients; however, brain plasticity remains good in acute and subacute patients. Most virtual reality systems are only applicable to the proximal upper limbs (arms because of the limitations of their capture systems. Nevertheless, the functional recovery of an affected hand is most difficult in the case of hemiparesis rehabilitation after a stroke. The recently developed Leap Motion controller can track the fine movements of both hands and fingers. Therefore, the present study explored the effects of a Leap Motion-based virtual reality system on subacute stroke. Twenty-six subacute stroke patients were assigned to an experimental group that received virtual reality training along with conventional occupational rehabilitation, and a control group that only received conventional rehabilitation. The Wolf motor function test (WMFT was used to assess the motor function of the affected upper limb; functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the cortical activation. After four weeks of treatment, the motor functions of the affected upper limbs were significantly improved in all the patients, with the improvement in the experimental group being significantly better than in the control group. The action performance time in the WMFT significantly decreased in the experimental group. Furthermore, the activation intensity and the laterality index of the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex increased in both the experimental and control groups. These results confirmed that Leap Motion-based virtual reality training was a promising and feasible supplementary rehabilitation intervention, could facilitate the recovery of motor functions in subacute stroke patients. The study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR-OCH-12002238.

Reading Strategy Guides to Assist Middle School Educators of Students with Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols-Yehling, M.; Strohl, C.

2014-07-01

According to the 2010 International Dyslexia Association publication, “Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading,” effective instruction is the key to addressing students' reading difficulties associated with dyslexia, a language-based disorder of learning to read and write. “Informed and effective classroom instruction. . . can prevent or at least effectively address and limit the severity of reading and writing problems.” The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission Education and Public Outreach program recently funded the development of six strategy guides for teachers of middle school students with reading difficulties, especially dyslexia. These guides utilize space science-themed reading materials developed by the Great Exploration in Math and Science (GEMS), including the IBEX-funded GEMS Space Science Sequence (Grades 6-8). The aforementioned reading strategy guides are now available on the IBEX mission website.

Reviewing published information on reading in Botswana secondary schools

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Lone E. Ketsitlile

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this review on published information on reading in Botswana schools is to seek ways of providing instruction and assessment that result in children becoming proficient readers. Botswana has made impressive progress in literacy growth since independence. However, a lot still needs to be done if literacy is to become all that it needs to be in the lives of the youth. One conclusion from this review is that there is an urgent need in Botswana to teach reading in ways that meet the needs of all students, especially those from Khoesan-speaking backgrounds. There is also a clear mismatch between policy and practice in the teaching of reading and this greatly disadvantages the students. Two important recommendations emanating from this review are, firstly, the teaching of reading should be linked more explicitly to that of writing; secondly, the Ministry of Education and concerned stakeholders need to encourage a marriage of policy and practice in the teaching of reading in Botswana.

Environmental and economic assessment of landfill gas electricity generation in Korea using LEAP model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Ho-Chul; Park, Jin-Won; Kim, Ho-Seok; Shin, Eui-Soon

2005-01-01

As a measure to establish a climate-friendly energy system, Korean government has proposed to expand landfill gas (LFG) electricity generation capacity. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impacts of LFG electricity generation on the energy market, the cost of generating electricity and greenhouse gases emissions in Korea using a computer-based software tool called 'Long-range Energy Alternative Planning system' (LEAP) and the associated 'Technology and Environmental Database'. In order to compare LFG electricity generation with existing other generating facilities, business as usual scenario of existing power plants was surveyed, and then alternative scenario investigations were performed using LEAP model. Different alternative scenarios were considered, namely the base case with existing electricity facilities, technological improvement of gas engine and LFG maximum utilization potential with different options of gas engine (GE), gas turbine (GT), and steam turbine (ST). In the technological improvement scenario, there will be 2.86 GWh or more increase in electricity output, decrease of 45 million won (Exchange rate (1$=1200 won)). in costs, and increase of 10.3 thousand ton of CO 2 in global warming potentials due to same period (5 year) of technological improvement. In the maximum utilization potential scenario, LFG electricity generation technology is substituted for coal steam, nuclear, and combined cycle process. Annual cost per electricity product of LFG electricity facilities (GE 58MW, GT 53.5MW, and ST 54.5MW) are 45.1, 34.3, and 24.4 won/kWh, and steam turbine process is cost-saving. LFG-utilization with other forms of energy utilization reduces global warming potential by maximum 75% with compared to spontaneous emission of CH 4 . LFG electricity generation would be the good solution for CO 2 displacement over the medium term and additional energy profits

Information Technology and Transcription of Reading Materials for the Visually Impaired Persons in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Nkiko, Christopher; Atinmo, Morayo I.; Michael-Onuoha, Happiness Chijioke; Ilogho, Julie E.; Fagbohun, Michael O.; Ifeakachuku, Osinulu; Adetomiwa, Basiru; Usman, Kazeem Omeiza

2018-01-01

Studies have shown inadequate reading materials for the visually impaired in Nigeria. Information technology has greatly advanced the provision of information to the visually impaired in other industrialized climes. This study investigated the extent of application of information technology to the transcription of reading materials for the…

Dutch institutional reading culture in the early nineteenth century: an exploration and a comparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Honings, R.; Lubbers, A.

2012-01-01

In recent decades there has been an increase of literary-historical research into Dutch (institutional) reading culture. In this article the focus lies on institutional reading culture in the Netherlands during the years 1815-30. Although a great deal of research has been conducted into regional

Detection of target phonemes in spontaneous and read speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, G; Cutler, A

1988-01-01

Although spontaneous speech occurs more frequently in most listeners' experience than read speech, laboratory studies of human speech recognition typically use carefully controlled materials read from a script. The phonological and prosodic characteristics of spontaneous and read speech differ considerably, however, which suggests that laboratory results may not generalise to the recognition of spontaneous speech. In the present study listeners were presented with both spontaneous and read speech materials, and their response time to detect word-initial target phonemes was measured. Responses were, overall, equally fast in each speech mode. However, analysis of effects previously reported in phoneme detection studies revealed significant differences between speech modes. In read speech but not in spontaneous speech, later targets were detected more rapidly than targets preceded by short words. In contrast, in spontaneous speech but not in read speech, targets were detected more rapidly in accented than in unaccented words and in strong than in weak syllables. An explanation for this pattern is offered in terms of characteristic prosodic differences between spontaneous and read speech. The results support claims from previous work that listeners pay great attention to prosodic information in the process of recognising speech.

Long-term scenario alternatives and their implications: LEAP model application of Panama's electricity sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPherson, Madeleine; Karney, Bryan

2014-01-01

Panama recently enacted a new law, which aims to promote wind energy by mandating long term power purchase tenders. The implications of this new law lend some uncertainty to Panama's electricity development pathway. This paper quantitatively analyzes the current status of power generation in Panama, and explores various potential future scenarios and the associated impacts on the system marginal cost, global warming potential, and resource diversity index. To this end, this study applies the scenario development methodology developed by Schwartz in the context of the energy-economic modeling platform ‘Long-range Energy Alternative Planning’ (LEAP). Four scenarios are developed and analyzed. The Business as Usual scenario extrapolates the electricity generation trend that has been observed over the last decade; it is compared to three alternative scenarios which have more specific objectives. Scenario 1 encourages climate mitigation without incorporating new technologies in the generation mix, Scenario 2 maximizes resource diversity, and Scenario 3 minimizes global warming potential. For each scenario, the composition of the electricity generation profile, system marginal cost, global warming potential, and resource diversity is predicted quantitatively. These scenarios to not attempt to forecast likely developments, but rather illuminate the tradeoffs that different development pathways entail. - Highlights: • This paper models Panama's electricity sector using the LEAP model platform. • Four scenarios are developed and analyzed. • Impact analysis includes: system cost, global warming potential, resource diversity index. • Panama can achieve a sustainable grid with existing technologies and costs. • There is an tradeoff between the resource diversity and global warming potential

Evaluation of optimal dual axis concentrated photovoltaic thermal system with active ventilation using Frog Leap algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gholami, H.; Sarwat, A.I.; Hosseinian, H.; Khalilnejad, A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Electro-thermal performance of open-loop controlled dual axis CPVT is investigated. • For using the absorbed heat, active ventilation with a heat storage tank is used. • Economic optimization of the system is performed, using Frog Leap algorithm. • Detailed model of all sections is simulated with their characteristics evaluation. • Triple-junction photovoltaic cells, which are the most recent technology, are used. - Abstract: In this study, design and optimization of a concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) system considering electrical, mechanical, and economical aspects is investigated. For this purpose, each section of the system is simulated in MATLAB, in detail. Triple-junction photovoltaic cells, which are the most recent technology, are used in this study. They are more efficient in comparison to conventional photovoltaic cells. Unlike ordinary procedures, in this work active ventilation is used for absorbing the thermal power of radiation, using heat storage tanks, which not only results in increasing the electrical efficiency of the system through decreasing the temperature, but also leads to storing and managing produced thermal energy and increasing the total efficiency of the system up to 85 percent. The operation of the CPVT system is investigated for total hours of the year, considering the needed thermal load, meteorological conditions, and hourly radiation of Khuznin, a city in Qazvin province, Iran. Finally, the collector used for this system is optimized economically, using frog leap algorithm, which resulted in the cost of 13.4 $/m"2 for a collector with the optimal distance between tubes of 6.34 cm.

Are Teenagers "Really" Keen Digital Readers? Adolescent Engagement in Ebook Reading and the Relevance of Paper Books Today

Science.gov (United States)

Merga, Margaret K.

2014-01-01

Digital reading technologies may be intuitively appealing. They offer many possibilities, including great potential for interactivity around books, portability of whole libraries in one small reading unit, and almost instant satisfaction of demand for a particular book. Though there is limited research exploring the appeal of digital reading for…

A New Method Based On Modified Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm In Order To Solve Nonlinear Large Scale Problem

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Aliasghar Baziar

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract In order to handle large scale problems this study has used shuffled frog leaping algorithm. This algorithm is an optimization method based on natural memetics that uses a new two-phase modification to it to have a better search in the problem space. The suggested algorithm is evaluated by comparing to some well known algorithms using several benchmark optimization problems. The simulation results have clearly shown the superiority of this algorithm over other well-known methods in the area.

Reading-to-write: A Practice of Critical Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhanfang Li

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Reading-to-write, a term taken from language testing studies, puts great emphasis on a student-centered learning atmosphere, on the situational context and cooperative learning, on an authentic learning environment, on making use of various information resources, and on the process of the individuals’ meaning construction and critical thinking. The application of this model in class will shed lights on College English teaching in China, providing the English teachers with a new perception of language teaching: Reading and writing can be integrated to elicit more authentic language use, and skill training and critical thinking are not two separate stages.

Developing reading literacy by reading badge

OpenAIRE

Rejc, Blanka

2017-01-01

Reading is a fundamental activity of our society and is present in all areas of a person’s life. Authors who deal with reading define reading with different definitions, some of them I also presented in my master’s degree thesis. The ways of reading, typology of readers and knowledge of different reading models are only some of the important theoretical facts that serve as a basis for the research and defining reading. Reading motivation is an important motivational factor, which encourages a...

Exploring the Relationship between Adolescent's Reading Skills, Reading Motivation and Reading Habits

Science.gov (United States)

McGeown, Sarah P.; Duncan, Lynne G.; Griffiths, Yvonne M.; Stothard, Sue E.

2015-01-01

The present study examines the extent to which adolescents' reading affect (reading motivation) and behaviour (reading habits) predict different components of reading (word reading, comprehension, summarisation and text reading speed) and also adds to the limited research examining group differences (gender, age, ability) in adolescents' reading…

Medium- and Long-term Prediction of LOD Change with the Leap-step Autoregressive Model

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Q. B.; Wang, Q. J.; Lei, M. F.

2015-09-01

It is known that the accuracies of medium- and long-term prediction of changes of length of day (LOD) based on the combined least-square and autoregressive (LS+AR) decrease gradually. The leap-step autoregressive (LSAR) model is more accurate and stable in medium- and long-term prediction, therefore it is used to forecast the LOD changes in this work. Then the LOD series from EOP 08 C04 provided by IERS (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service) is used to compare the effectiveness of the LSAR and traditional AR methods. The predicted series resulted from the two models show that the prediction accuracy with the LSAR model is better than that from AR model in medium- and long-term prediction.

The leap from ROI to SROI: Farther than expected?

Science.gov (United States)

Gargani, John

2017-10-01

Social return on investment (SROI) is a popular method for evaluating the impact that organizations have on society and the environment. It has its roots in finance, where return on investment (ROI) is used to evaluate investments. Over the past ten years, SROI has made the leap from a tool for building private wealth to one that advances the public good. Has it landed us in a better place? To answer the question, I describe the general approach to financial analysis, how it is applied to financial decisions, and how it has been adapted to evaluate impact. I then consider the strengths and weaknesses of SROI, and suggest how, by pushing beyond the constraints of financial analysis, it can give stakeholders voice and provide evidence of success from diverse perspectives. Along the way, I propose a conceptual model for value, a foundational concept in SROI that has been criticized by some as underdeveloped, and I include a technical appendix that identifies potential sources of statistical bias in SROI estimates. I conclude by acknowledging our growing need to incorporate efficiency as one of multiple success criteria and the role that SROI-properly implemented-can play. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Analysis of the Precision and Reliability of the Leap Motion Sensor and Its Suitability for Static and Dynamic Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jože Guna

2014-02-01

Full Text Available We present the results of an evaluation of the performance of the Leap Motion Controller with the aid of a professional, high-precision, fast motion tracking system. A set of static and dynamic measurements was performed with different numbers of tracking objects and configurations. For the static measurements, a plastic arm model simulating a human arm was used. A set of 37 reference locations was selected to cover the controller’s sensory space. For the dynamic measurements, a special V-shaped tool, consisting of two tracking objects maintaining a constant distance between them, was created to simulate two human fingers. In the static scenario, the standard deviation was less than 0.5 mm. The linear correlation revealed a significant increase in the standard deviation when moving away from the controller. The results of the dynamic scenario revealed the inconsistent performance of the controller, with a significant drop in accuracy for samples taken more than 250 mm above the controller’s surface. The Leap Motion Controller undoubtedly represents a revolutionary input device for gesture-based human-computer interaction; however, due to its rather limited sensory space and inconsistent sampling frequency, in its current configuration it cannot currently be used as a professional tracking system.

An analysis of the precision and reliability of the leap motion sensor and its suitability for static and dynamic tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Guna, Jože; Jakus, Grega; Pogačnik, Matevž; Tomažič, Sašo; Sodnik, Jaka

2014-02-21

We present the results of an evaluation of the performance of the Leap Motion Controller with the aid of a professional, high-precision, fast motion tracking system. A set of static and dynamic measurements was performed with different numbers of tracking objects and configurations. For the static measurements, a plastic arm model simulating a human arm was used. A set of 37 reference locations was selected to cover the controller's sensory space. For the dynamic measurements, a special V-shaped tool, consisting of two tracking objects maintaining a constant distance between them, was created to simulate two human fingers. In the static scenario, the standard deviation was less than 0.5 mm. The linear correlation revealed a significant increase in the standard deviation when moving away from the controller. The results of the dynamic scenario revealed the inconsistent performance of the controller, with a significant drop in accuracy for samples taken more than 250 mm above the controller's surface. The Leap Motion Controller undoubtedly represents a revolutionary input device for gesture-based human-computer interaction; however, due to its rather limited sensory space and inconsistent sampling frequency, in its current configuration it cannot currently be used as a professional tracking system.

I read, you read, we read: the history of reading in Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Dular

2013-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTPurpose: The aim of the article is to research reading habits in Slovenia in the period between 16th and 19th century and to find similarities with Austria and other European countries of that time.Methodology/approach: For the purpose of the analysis different resources were used – study books, catechisms, prayer books and manuals. We were focused on introductions in which readers are advised how to read, explaining to whom the work is intended and emphasizing the importance of meditation on the texts.Results: Historically the laud reading was prefered, as to continue the folk tradition. However, the 16th century texts were transmitted by women while the folk tradition was narrated by males. In the 18th century the higher level of literacy and greater book production and availability caused that the books were not a privilege of a few. At that time more texts were intended for silent, individual reading. Interestingly, the authors emphasized the importance of meditation on the texts, too. It was also advised when to read – it wasrecommedend to read in leisure time on Sundays, and on holidays. The role of books was also to breakaway with the reality and to forget everyday problems. Due to the overproduction of books in the 17th centrury it was concerned that books are misleading the crowds. The church considered the reading of books as inappropriate, and criticized fiction, novels and adventure stories mostly read by women.Research limitation: The study is based on Slovenian texts only, although the foreign literature, especially in German, was generally available, too.Originality/practical implications: The study is fullfiling the gap in the history of reading in Slovenia.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children ( N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development.

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

Science.gov (United States)

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

A reading list for Bill Gates--and you. A conversation with literary critic Harold Bloom. Interview by Diane L. Coutu.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, H

2001-05-01

In today's technology-driven world, who has time to pick up a 400-page novel? Most executives don't--they have urgent e-mails to answer, training seminars to attend, meetings to lead, and trade publications to scan. But according to Harold Bloom, one of America's most influential scholars, they should make time in their hectic schedules to read great works. In a wide-ranging conversation with HBR senior editor Diane Coutu, Bloom discusses the importance of literature: every individual--regardless of profession--needs to stretch his or her mind and reflect now and again on the human condition. "By reading great imaginative literature, you can prepare yourself for surprise and even get a kind of strength that welcomes and exploits the unexpected," he says. Because there are so many great works and there is so little time, Bloom presents a reading list for busy executives. Shakespeare's King Lear can teach businesspeople about change. Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays capture the ethos of the American spirit--individualism and inventiveness. Bloom says Sigmund Freud's conceptions "form the only Western mythology that contemporary intellectuals have in common." And people will never fully understand some aspects of themselves until they read Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote. In short, Bloom believes the humanities have much to offer businesspeople: great books broaden their awareness and their range of sensibility, he says. But reading literature will not make businesspeople more moral, he cautions. Bloom also discusses other topics such as how to read well, the state of popular fiction, the role of irony, and the subject of change.

Using leap motion to investigate the emergence of structure in speech and language.

Science.gov (United States)

Eryilmaz, Kerem; Little, Hannah

2017-10-01

 In evolutionary linguistics, experiments using artificial signal spaces are being used to investigate the emergenceof speech structure. These signal spaces need to be continuous, non-discretized spaces from which discrete unitsand patterns can emerge. They need to be dissimilar from-but comparable with-the vocal tract, in order tominimize interference from pre-existing linguistic knowledge, while informing us about language. This is a hardbalance to strike. This article outlines a new approach that uses the Leap Motion, an infrared controller that canconvert manual movement in 3d space into sound. The signal space using this approach is more flexible than signalspaces in previous attempts. Further, output data using this approach is simpler to arrange and analyze. Theexperimental interface was built using free, and mostly open- source libraries in Python. We provide our sourcecode for other researchers as open source.

Neural Network Analysis of LEAP Energy Spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holdridge, Robert E

2002-09-10

The Laser Electron Acceleration Project (LEAP) group has been conducting a proof of principle experiment on the acceleration of electrons with a pair of crossed laser beams. To date there has been no experimental verification of electron acceleration with crossed laser beams in a dielectric loaded vacuum, although the energy profile of an accelerated electron bunch has been well described by theory. The experiment is subject to unavoidable time dependent fluctuations in the independent variables. Changes in the experimental parameters can dramatically alter the beam profile incident near the focal plane of a high-resolution spectrometer located downstream from the accelerator cell. Neural networks (NNs) appear to provide an ideal tool for the positive determination of an acceleration event, being adaptable and able to handle highly complex nonlinear problems. Typical NNs under such conditions require a training set consisting of a representative data set along with ''answers'' which have been determined to be consistent with the variable state of the experimental parameters. A strategy of pattern recognition with respect to the status of independent variables can be employed to determine the signature characteristics of a laser perturbed electron bunch. Data cuts representing characteristics that were thought to be distinctive to accelerated beam profile images were implemented in the algorithm employed. Statistical analysis of the results of data cuts made on the energy profile images from the experiment is presented, as well as conclusions drawn from the results of this analysis. Finally, a discussion of future directions to be taken in this work is given including the orientation towards on-line, real-time analysis.

Long-read sequencing data analysis for yeasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Jia-Xing; Liti, Gianni

2018-06-01

Long-read sequencing technologies have become increasingly popular due to their strengths in resolving complex genomic regions. As a leading model organism with small genome size and great biotechnological importance, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has many isolates currently being sequenced with long reads. However, analyzing long-read sequencing data to produce high-quality genome assembly and annotation remains challenging. Here, we present a modular computational framework named long-read sequencing data analysis for yeasts (LRSDAY), the first one-stop solution that streamlines this process. Starting from the raw sequencing reads, LRSDAY can produce chromosome-level genome assembly and comprehensive genome annotation in a highly automated manner with minimal manual intervention, which is not possible using any alternative tool available to date. The annotated genomic features include centromeres, protein-coding genes, tRNAs, transposable elements (TEs), and telomere-associated elements. Although tailored for S. cerevisiae, we designed LRSDAY to be highly modular and customizable, making it adaptable to virtually any eukaryotic organism. When applying LRSDAY to an S. cerevisiae strain, it takes ∼41 h to generate a complete and well-annotated genome from ∼100× Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) running the basic workflow with four threads. Basic experience working within the Linux command-line environment is recommended for carrying out the analysis using LRSDAY.

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children

OpenAIRE

Degé, Franziska; Kubicek, Claudia; Schwarzer, Gudrun

2015-01-01

The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading). Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abiliti...

An Analysis on Reading Texts in Teaching Turkish to Foreigners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adem İŞCAN

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Being one of the four basic language skills, reading has a great importance in teaching Turkish to foreigners. It is required to develop reading skills to develop vocabulary. There have been some problems in teaching Turkish as second language. These problems are generally related to difference in alphabet, inadequacy of the sources used in teaching Turkish, methods and techniques used and the texts used. The basic sources used in teaching Turkish to foreigners are texts. This study aims at determination of the opinions of students in Gaziosmanpaşa University and Ondokuz Mayıs University Turkish Education and Application Center (TOMER concerning Turkish reading texts. General browsing method was used in the study. The questionnaire comprising of 24 items was applied to 25 students in beginner level and 7 students in advanced level. With this study, it is foreseen to arrange the texts being the key stone according to the wishes of and in compliance with the levels of students; giving importance to pre-reading, reading and post-reading activities and including questions with short-answer about the text as well as questions to develop high level skills.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

OpenAIRE

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)—how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text readi...

Developmental relations between reading comprehension and reading strategies

OpenAIRE

Muijselaar, M.M.L.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G.; Droop, W.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.; Jong, P.F. de

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary, and working memory were administered. A structural equation model was constructed to estimate the unique relations between reading strategies and reading comprehension, while controlling for reading...

Teaching Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Richard R.

2013-01-01

"Teaching Reading" uncovers the interactive processes that happen when people learn to read and translates them into a comprehensive easy-to-follow guide on how to teach reading. Richard Day's revelations on the nature of reading, reading strategies, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading objectives make fascinating…

Slow Reading: Reading along "Lectio" Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Badley, K. Jo-Ann; Badley, Ken

2011-01-01

The medieval monastic movement preserved and developed reading practices--lectio--from ancient Greek pedagogy as a slow, mindful approach to reading for formation. This ancient way of reading, now better known as lectio divina, challenges the fast, pragmatic reading so characteristic of our time. We propose that the present moment may be ripe for…

Before babel: reflections on reading and translating freud.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolnik, Eran J

2015-04-01

The author offers some thoughts on reading and teaching Freud, on translating Freud, on translation in general, and on a possible kinship between translation and the psychoanalytic process. His reading of Freud's works, and the years he spent translating them into Hebrew and editing Hebrew editions of his writings, have made a deep and salient impression on his personal psychoanalytic palimpsest. The author began this labor prior to his psychoanalytic training and has no doubt that, to this day, the experience greatly shapes not only his attitude toward Freud himself, but also the nature of how he listens to patients and the way he thinks and writes about psychoanalysis. © 2015 The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Inc.

The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: a modern perspective and enduring legacies

Science.gov (United States)

Brocher, Thomas M.; Filson, John R.; Fuis, Gary S.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Holzer, Thomas L.; Plafker, George; Blair, J. Luke

2014-01-01

The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake that struck south-central Alaska at 5:36 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 1964, is the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history and the second-largest earthquake recorded with modern instruments. The earthquake was felt throughout most of mainland Alaska, as far west as Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands some 480 miles away, and at Seattle, Washington, more than 1,200 miles to the southeast of the fault rupture, where the Space Needle swayed perceptibly. The earthquake caused rivers, lakes, and other waterways to slosh as far away as the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Water-level recorders in 47 states—the entire Nation except for Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island— registered the earthquake. It was so large that it caused the entire Earth to ring like a bell: vibrations that were among the first of their kind ever recorded by modern instruments. The Great Alaska Earthquake spawned thousands of lesser aftershocks and hundreds of damaging landslides, submarine slumps, and other ground failures. Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, located west of the fault rupture, sustained heavy property damage. Tsunamis produced by the earthquake resulted in deaths and damage as far away as Oregon and California. Altogether the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis caused 129 fatalities and an estimated $2.3 billion in property losses (in 2013 dollars). Most of the population of Alaska and its major transportation routes, ports, and infrastructure lie near the eastern segment of the Aleutian Trench that ruptured in the 1964 earthquake. Although the Great Alaska Earthquake was tragic because of the loss of life and property, it provided a wealth of data about subductionzone earthquakes and the hazards they pose. The leap in scientific understanding that followed the 1964 earthquake has led to major breakthroughs in earth science research worldwide over the past half century. This fact sheet commemorates Great Alaska Earthquake and

Leap motion controlled videogame-based therapy for rehabilitation of elderly patients with subacute stroke: a feasibility pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Iosa, Marco; Morone, Giovanni; Fusco, Augusto; Castagnoli, Marcello; Fusco, Francesca Romana; Pratesi, Luca; Paolucci, Stefano

2015-08-01

The leap motion controller (LMC) is a new optoelectronic system for capturing motion of both hands and controlling a virtual environment. Differently from previous devices, it optoelectronically tracks the fine movements of fingers neither using glows nor markers. This pilot study explored the feasibility of adapting the LMC, developed for videogames, to neurorehabilitation of elderly with subacute stroke. Four elderly patients (71.50 ± 4.51 years old) affected by stroke in subacute phase were enrolled and tested in a cross-over pilot trial in which six sessions of 30 minutes of LMC videogame-based therapy were added on conventional therapy. Measurements involved participation to the sessions, evaluated by means of the Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Participation Scale, hand ability and grasp force evaluated respectively by means of the Abilhand Scale and by means of the dynamometer. Neither adverse effects nor spasticity increments were observed during LMC training. Participation to the sessions was excellent in three patients and very good in one patient during the LMC trial. In this period, patients showed a significantly higher improvement in hand abilities (P = 0.028) and grasp force (P = 0.006). This feasibility pilot study was the first one using leap motion controller for conducting a videogame-based therapy. This study provided a proof of concept that LMC can be a suitable tool even for elderly patients with subacute stroke. LMC training was in fact performed with a high level of active participation, without adverse effects, and contributed to increase the recovery of hand abilities.

Energy efficiency and CO_2 mitigation potential of the Turkish iron and steel industry using the LEAP (long-range energy alternatives planning) system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ates, Seyithan A.

2015-01-01

With the assistance of the LEAP (long-range energy alternatives planning) energy modeling tool, this study explores the energy efficiency and CO_2 emission reduction potential of the iron and steel industry in Turkey. With a share of 35%, the steel and iron industry is considered as the most energy-consuming sector in Turkey. The study explores that the energy intensity rate can be lowered by 13%, 38% and 51% in SEI (slow-speed energy efficiency improvement), AEI (accelerating energy efficiency improvement) and CPT (cleaner production and technology scenario) scenarios, respectively. Particularly the projected aggregated energy savings of the scenarios CPT and AES are very promising with saving rates of 33.7% and 23% respectively. Compared to baseline scenarios, energy efficiency improvements correspond to economic potential of 0.1 billion dollars for SEI, 1.25 dollars for AEI and 1.8 billion dollars for CPT scenarios annually. Concerning GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, in 2030 the iron and steel industry in Turkey is estimated to produce 34.9 MtCO_2 in BAU (business-as-usual scenario), 32.5 MtCO_2 in SEI, 24.6 MtCO_2 in AEI and 14.5 MtCO_2 in CPT a scenario which corresponds to savings of 9%–39%. The study reveals that energy consumption and GHG emissions of the iron and steel industry can be lowered significantly if the necessary measures are implemented. It is expected that this study will fill knowledge gaps pertaining to energy efficiency potential in Turkish energy intensive industries and help stakeholders in energy intensive industries to realize the potential for energy efficiency and GHG mitigation. - Highlights: • This paper explores energy efficiency potential of iron and Steel industry in Turkey. • We applied the LEAP modeling to forecast future developments. • Four different scenarios have been developed for the LEAP modeling. • There is a huge potential for energy efficiency and mitigation of GHG emissions.

Reading comprehension and reading related abilities in adolescents with reading disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghelani, Karen; Sidhu, Robindra; Jain, Umesh; Tannock, Rosemary

2004-11-01

Reading comprehension is a very complex task that requires different cognitive processes and reading abilities over the life span. There are fewer studies of reading comprehension relative to investigations of word reading abilities. Reading comprehension difficulties, however, have been identified in two common and frequently overlapping childhood disorders: reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The nature of reading comprehension difficulties in these groups remains unclear. The performance of four groups of adolescents (RD, ADHD, comorbid ADHD and RD, and normal controls) was compared on reading comprehension tasks as well as on reading rate and accuracy tasks. Adolescents with RD showed difficulties across most reading tasks, although their comprehension scores were average. Adolescents with ADHD exhibited adequate single word reading abilities. Subtle difficulties were observed, however, on measures of text reading rate and accuracy as well as on silent reading comprehension, but scores remained in the average range. The comorbid group demonstrated similar difficulties to the RD group on word reading accuracy and on reading rate but experienced problems on only silent reading comprehension. Implications for reading interventions are outlined, as well as the clinical relevance for diagnosis.

The Explicit Instruction of Reading Strategies: Directed Reading Thinking Activity vs. Guided Reading Strategies

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Mohammad Mehdi Yazdani

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Investigating the efficiencies and deficiencies of reading strategies is one of the noticeable issues in the related theory and research in reading comprehension instruction. This study was to examine the impact of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA and Guided Reading (GR on reading comprehension. Sixty three Iranian students of grade one in Shahed high school in the city of Bojnourd took part in the study. They were assigned in three groups, one control and two experimental groups. The instruction lasted for ten weeks. This study utilized a pretest posttest control group in quantitative quasi- experimental design. The same reading comprehension test was administered as pre-test and post-test. The results were twofold: First, the instruction of learning strategies could foster reading comprehension skill. Second, while the explicit instruction of both strategies could improve the students' reading comprehension skill, Directed Reading Thinking Activity had a more significant positive effect than Guided Reading.

Developmental Relations Between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muijselaar, M.; Swart, N.M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G,.; Droop, M.; Verhoeven, L.; de Jong, P.F.

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary,

A student's guide through the great physics texts

CERN Document Server

Kuehn, Kerry

This book provides a chronological introduction to the sciences of astronomy and cosmology based on the reading and analysis of significant selections from classic texts, such as Ptolemy’s Almagest, Kepler’s Epitome of Copernican Astronomy, Shapley’s Galaxies, and Lemaître’s The Primeval Atom. Each chapter begins with a short introduction followed by a reading selection. Carefully crafted study questions draw out key points in the text and focus the reader’s attention on the author’s methods, analysis, and conclusions. Numerical and observational exercises at the end of each chapter test the reader’s ability to understand and apply key concepts from the text.  The Heavens and the Earth is the first of four volumes in A Student’s Guide Through the Great Physics Texts. This book grew out of a four-semester undergraduate physics curriculum designed to encourage a critical and circumspect approach to natural science, while at the same time preparing students for advanced coursework in physics. ...

Forecasting Reading Anxiety for Promoting English-Language Reading Performance Based on Reading Annotation Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chih-Ming; Wang, Jung-Ying; Chen, Yong-Ting; Wu, Jhih-Hao

2016-01-01

To reduce effectively the reading anxiety of learners while reading English articles, a C4.5 decision tree, a widely used data mining technique, was used to develop a personalized reading anxiety prediction model (PRAPM) based on individual learners' reading annotation behavior in a collaborative digital reading annotation system (CDRAS). In…

Drawing a Crowd: Graphic Novel Events Are Great Ways to Generate Excitement

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Heidi

2004-01-01

As graphic novels grow in popularity, with teen readers, libraries are finding the world of comics, manga, and anime a fertile field for inspiring events, as well as a great way to promote libraries to teens in general. These events can range from simple--a reading/signing--to elaborate--workshops, or even a mini convention. All provide a unique…

Leaping shampoo glides on a 500-nm-thick lubricating air layer

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Erqiang; Lee, Sanghyun; Marston, Jeremy; Bonito, Andrea; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur

2013-11-01

When a stream of shampoo is fed onto a pool in one's hand, a jet can leap sideways or rebound from the liquid surface in an intriguing phenomenon known as the Kaye effect. Earlier studies have debated whether non-Newtonian effects are the underlying cause of this phenomenon, making the jet glide on top of a shear-thinning liquid layer, or whether an entrained air layer is responsible. Herein we show unambiguously that the jet slides on a lubricating air layer [Lee et al., Phys. Rev. E 87, 061001 (2013)]. We identify this layer by looking through the pool liquid and observing its rupture into fine micro-bubbles. The resulting micro-bubble sizes suggest that the thickness of this air layer is around 500 nm. This thickness estimate is also supported by the tangential deceleration of the jet during the rebounding, with the shear stress within the thin air layer sufficient for the observed deceleration. Particle tracking within the jet shows uniform velocity, with no pronounced shear, which would be required for shear-thinning effects. The role of the surfactant may primarily be to stabilize the air film.

Leap motion evaluation for assessment of upper limb motor skills in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Butt, A H; Rovini, E; Dolciotti, C; Bongioanni, P; De Petris, G; Cavallo, F

2017-07-01

The main goal of this study is to investigate the potential of the Leap Motion Controller (LMC) for the objective assessment of motor dysfunctioning in patients with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). The most relevant clinical signs in Parkinson's Disease (PD), such as slowness of movements, frequency variation, amplitude variation, and speed, were extracted from the recorded LMC data. Data were clinically quantified using the LMC software development kit (SDK). In this study, 16 PwPD subjects and 12 control healthy subjects were involved. A neurologist assessed the subjects during the task execution, assigning them a score according to the MDS/UPDRS-Section III items. Features of motor performance from both subject groups (patients and healthy controls) were extracted with dedicated algorithms. Furthermore, to find out the significance of such features from the clinical point of view, machine learning based methods were used. Overall, our findings showed the moderate potential of LMC to extract the motor performance of PwPD.

"As Real as It Gets": A Grounded Theory Study of a Reading Intervention in A Juvenile Correctional School

Science.gov (United States)

McCray, Erica D.; Ribuffo, Cecelia; Lane, Holly; Murphy, Kristin M.; Gagnon, Joseph C.; Houchins, David E.; Lambert, Richard G.

2018-01-01

Background: The well-documented statistics regarding the academic struggles of incarcerated youth are disconcerting, and efforts to improve reading performance among this population are greatly needed. There is a dearth of research that provides rich and detailed accounts of reading intervention implementation in the juvenile corrections setting.…

Child-centered reading intervention: See, talk, dictate, read, write!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammet BAŞTUĞ

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Poor reading achievement of children in elementary schools has been one of the major concerns in education. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a child-centered reading intervention in eliminating the reading problems of a student with poor reading achievement. The research was conducted with a student having difficulty in reading. A reading intervention was designed that targeted multiple areas of reading and aimed to improve reading skills through the use of multiple strategies. This intervention is child-centered and includes visual aids, talking, dictating, reading and writing stages. The study was performed in 35 sessions consisting of stages of a single sentence (5 sessions, two sentences (5 sessions, three sentences (20 sessions and the text stage (5 sessions. The intervention sessions were audio-taped. These recordings and the written responses to the reading comprehension questions provided the data for analysis. The findings on the reading intervention revealed positive outcomes. The student exhibited certain improvements at the levels of reading, reading rate and reading comprehension. These results were discussed in the literature and the findings suggest that child-centered reading strategies such as talking, dictating and writing should be the main focus of instruction for students with low reading literacy achievement to enable these students to meet the demands of the curriculum.

Simply Great Cooking Instruction. A Manual for Teaching Cooking to Non-Reading Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Sesto, Cameron

This manual presents a method of teaching cooking to nonreaders. The language of the method consists of visual symbols, such as drawings of bowls, spoons, and ingredients, and color. The "Simply Great" method consists of three basic formats: the one-step booklet, the full-page format, and the simply written for the student with some…

I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T: Increasing Reading Independence for Students with Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Milner, Diane Hansen

2017-01-01

Due to their unique brain profile, children with dyslexia struggle with acquiring basic literacy skills. Even after basic reading skills have been learned students with dyslexia may still struggle greatly with generalizing their skills to new contexts. Researchers have found that 75 percent of children identified with reading problems in third…

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH IINTERACTIVE READ-ALOUD TECHNIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edi Santoso

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The present study, entitled Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension through Interactive Read-Aloud, attempts to unlock problems found in teaching and reading comprehension through interactive read-aloud in a Senior High School of Sport (SMAN Olah Raga Lampung, in Metro. The findings revealed that students’ reading comprehension improved through interactive read-aloud. The improvement can be seen from the increase of test results, meaning construction, and motivation. The process of reading activities showed that the teacher’s gesture and body language, 20 questions, explain and guess activities were proven to help the students construct meaning from the given texts. In addition, interactive read-aloud is effective to boost students’ motivation to comprehend the texts.   Key words: Reading comprehension, interactive read-aloud.

Examples of Small-scale Urban Area. Experiment Energy Leap Built Environment; Voorbeeldenboek Kleinschalige Binnenstedelijke Gebieden. Experiment Energiesprong Gebouwde Omgeving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-03-15

The Dutch government considers the transition process to be necessary and stimulates investments in energy innovations in the built environment. This innovation effort is the programme 'Energy Leap' (Energiesprong), which is being carried out by the Steering Group Experimental Housing (SEV) on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). The programme is derived from the Innovation Agenda for Energy in the Built Environment. The examples in this book are intended to inspire (potential) participants in the Experiment Energy Leap for Small-scale Urban Areas. The examples focus explicitly on the reduction of CO2 emissions in urban areas, and thus, in addition to CO2 reduction on a building level, the aspects of energy supply, (local) energy production and the energy infrastructure [Dutch] Het SEV-programma Energiesprong (SEV is Stuurgroep Experimenten Volkshuisvesting) beoogt een substantiele bijdrage te leveren aan de condities waaronder de energietransitie effectief tot stand kan komen. In dit basisplan wordt uiteengezet hoe de markt daartoe moet kunnen komen en welke activiteiten daarvoor worden ondersteund, opgezet en/of uitgevoerd vanuit Energiesprong. Het SEV-programma Energiesprong wordt in opdracht van het Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (BZK) uitgevoerd. Het programma is afgeleid van de Innovatie Agenda energie Gebouwde Omgeving. Dit voorbeeldenboek dient ter inspiratie van (potentiele) deelnemers aan het Experiment Energiesprong kleinschalige Binnenstedelijke Gebieden. De voorbeelden richten zich expliciet op de CO2-reductie van binnenstedelijke gebieden en daarmee, naast de CO2-reductie op woning- en gebouwniveau, op de aspecten energievoorziening, (locale) energieopwekking en energie-infrastructuur.

Reading faster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Nation

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes the visual nature of the reading process as it relates to reading speed. It points out that there is a physical limit on normal reading speed and beyond this limit the reading process will be different from normal reading where almost every word is attended to. The article describes a range of activities for developing reading fluency, and suggests how the development of fluency can become part of a reading programme.

Promoting preschool reading

OpenAIRE

Istenič, Vesna

2013-01-01

The thesis titled Promoting preschool reading consists of a theoretiral and an empirical part. In the theoretical part I wrote about reading, the importance of reading, types of reading, about reading motivation, promoting reading motivation, internal and external motivation, influence of reading motivation on the child's reading activity, reading and familial literacy, the role of adults in promotion reading literacy, reading to a child and promoting reading in pre-school years, where I ...

Parents' reading-related knowledge and children's reading acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladd, Megan; Martin-Chang, Sandra; Levesque, Kyle

2011-12-01

Teacher reading-related knowledge (phonological awareness and phonics knowledge) predicts student reading, however little is known about the reading-related knowledge of parents. Participants comprised 70 dyads (children from kindergarten and grade 1 and their parents). Parents were administered a questionnaire tapping into reading-related knowledge, print exposure, storybook reading, and general cultural knowledge. Children were tested on measures of letter-word knowledge, sound awareness, receptive vocabulary, oral expression, and mathematical skill. Parent reading-related knowledge showed significant positive links with child letter-word knowledge and sound awareness, but showed no correlations with child measures of mathematical skill or vocabulary. Furthermore, parent reading-related knowledge was not associated with parents' own print exposure or cultural knowledge, indicating that knowledge about English word structure may be separate from other cognitive skills. Implications are discussed in terms of improving parent reading-related knowledge to promote child literacy.

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children.

Science.gov (United States)

Degé, Franziska; Kubicek, Claudia; Schwarzer, Gudrun

2015-01-01

The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading). Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abilities. Hence, the present study investigated the association between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading. Thereby, not only phonological awareness, the mostly studied precursor of reading, was investigated, but also other precursors were examined. We assessed musical abilities (production and perception) and precursors of reading (phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory) in 55 preschoolers (27 boys). Fluid intelligence was measured and controlled in the analyses. Results showed that phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory were related to music perception as well as to music production. Our data suggest that several precursors of reading were associated with music perception as well as music production.

Associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading in preschool aged children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franziska eDegé

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The association between music and language, in particular, the overlap in their processing results in the possibility to use one domain for the enhancement of the other. Especially in the preschool years music may be a valuable tool to train language abilities (e.g., precursors of reading. Therefore, detailed knowledge about associations between musical abilities and precursors of reading can be of great use for designing future music intervention studies that target language-related abilities. Hence, the present study investigated the association between music perception as well as music production and precursors of reading. Thereby, not only phonological awareness, the mostly studied precursor of reading, was investigated, but also other precursors were examined. We assessed musical abilities (production and perception and precursors of reading (phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory in 55 preschoolers (27 boys. Fluid intelligence was measured and controlled in the analyses. Results showed that phonological awareness, working memory, and rapid retrieval from long-term memory were related to music perception as well as to music production. Our data suggest that several precursors of reading were associated with music perception as well as music production.

LEAPing through the looking glass: secondary analysis of the effect of skin test size and age of introduction on peanut tolerance after early peanut introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenhawt, M; Fleischer, D M; Chan, E S; Venter, C; Stukus, D; Gupta, R; Spergel, J M

2017-08-01

In the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study, early peanut introduction in high-risk 4- to 11-month-olds was associated with a significantly decreased risk of developing peanut allergy. However, the influences of key baseline high-risk factors on peanut tolerance are poorly understood. Secondary analysis was conducted on the publically available LEAP dataset, exploring relationships between peanut tolerance, baseline peanut/egg sensitization, eczema severity/duration, age of introduction, gender, and race. A multiple logistic regression model predicting odds of successful oral food challenge (OFC) at 60 months noted higher odds with early introduction (OR 9.2, P introduction group was 83% vs 43% in the avoidance group with SPT wheal of introduction between 6 and 11 months than at 4-6 months. Increasing eczema severity had limited impact on the probability of peanut tolerance in the early introduction arm. Increasing peanut wheal size predicted peanut tolerance only in the avoidance arm. Peanut introduction between 6 and 11 months of age was associated with the highest rates of peanut tolerance, questioning the 'urgency' of introduction before 6 months. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Why should I read? - A cross-cultural investigation into adolescents' reading socialisation and reading attitude

Science.gov (United States)

Broeder, Peter; Stokmans, Mia

2013-06-01

While reading behaviour of adolescents is a frequent object of research, most studies in this field are restricted to a single country. This study investigates reading as a leisure-time activity across social groups from three regions differing in reading tradition as well as in the facilities available for reading. The authors analyse the reading behaviour of a total of 2,173 adolescents in the Netherlands, in Beijing (China), and in Cape Town (South Africa). Taking Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour as a starting point, the authors adjusted it to model the three most important determinants of reading behaviour, namely (1) reading attitude; (2) subjective norms (implicit and explicit social pressure to read); and (3) perceived behavioural control, which includes reading proficiency and appropriateness of the available books (book supply). While they found the adjusted model to fit the Dutch and Beijing situation quite well, it appeared to be inappropriate for the Cape Town situation. Despite considerable cultural and situational differences between the Netherlands and Beijing, the results show a similar pattern for these two environments. The most important determinants turn out to be: the hedonic reading attitude, the implicit norm of family and friends, the attractiveness of the available choice of books, and the perceived reading proficiency.

Noosphere: Does the Internet Provide an Evolutionary Leap to a Higher Level of Collective Intelligence?

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Tatjana Milivojević

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The neologism noosphere signifies global human consciousness. According to T. de Chardin, it is the third stage in the development of the earth, after the geosphere and the biosphere. As well as the emergence of life has fundamentally changed the geosphere, the emergence of human consciousness has fundamentally changed the biosphere. De Chardin envisioned the “planetarization” of mankind, which is equivalent to the current globalization by information technology. From an anthropological point of view, internet is not a technology or media as others: it has the potential to revolutionize the current civilizational paradigm. With the advent of the internet the idea of the noosphere has been reactualized and related to the concept of collective intelligence. The article questions the hypothesis of an evolutionary leap in a greater collective intelligence or higher level of collective consciousness presenting pros and cons.

Comparison of reading speed with 3 different log-scaled reading charts.

Science.gov (United States)

Buari, Noor Halilah; Chen, Ai-Hong; Musa, Nuraini

2014-01-01

A reading chart that resembles real reading conditions is important to evaluate the quality of life in terms of reading performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the reading speed of UiTM Malay related words (UiTM-Mrw) reading chart with MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart. Fifty subjects with normal sight were randomly recruited through randomized sampling in this study (mean age=22.98±1.65 years). Subjects were asked to read three different near charts aloud and as quickly as possible at random sequence. The charts were the UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart, respectively. The time taken to read each chart was recorded and any errors while reading were noted. Reading performance was quantified in terms of reading speed as words per minute (wpm). The mean reading speed for UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart, MNread Acuity Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart was 200±30wpm, 196±28wpm and 194±31wpm, respectively. Comparison of reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and MNread Acuity Chart showed no significant difference (t=-0.73, p=0.72). The same happened with the reading speed between UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart and Colenbrander Reading Chart (t=-0.97, p=0.55). Bland and Altman plot showed good agreement between reading speed of UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart with MNread Acuity Chart with the Colenbrander Reading Chart. UiTM-Mrw Reading Chart in Malay language is highly comparable with standardized charts and can be used for evaluating reading speed. Copyright © 2013 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Design and evaluation of an augmented reality simulator using leap motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Trinette; de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Eagleson, Roy

2017-10-01

Advances in virtual and augmented reality (AR) are having an impact on the medical field in areas such as surgical simulation. Improvements to surgical simulation will provide students and residents with additional training and evaluation methods. This is particularly important for procedures such as the endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), which residents perform regularly. Simulators such as NeuroTouch, have been designed to aid in training associated with this procedure. The authors have designed an affordable and easily accessible ETV simulator, and compare it with the existing NeuroTouch for its usability and training effectiveness. This simulator was developed using Unity, Vuforia and the leap motion (LM) for an AR environment. The participants, 16 novices and two expert neurosurgeons, were asked to complete 40 targeting tasks. Participants used the NeuroTouch tool or a virtual hand controlled by the LM to select the position and orientation for these tasks. The length of time to complete each task was recorded and the trajectory log files were used to calculate performance. The resulting data from the novices' and experts' speed and accuracy are compared, and they discuss the objective performance of training in terms of the speed and accuracy of targeting accuracy for each system.

Design and evaluation of an augmented reality simulator using leap motion

Science.gov (United States)

de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Eagleson, Roy

2017-01-01

Advances in virtual and augmented reality (AR) are having an impact on the medical field in areas such as surgical simulation. Improvements to surgical simulation will provide students and residents with additional training and evaluation methods. This is particularly important for procedures such as the endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), which residents perform regularly. Simulators such as NeuroTouch, have been designed to aid in training associated with this procedure. The authors have designed an affordable and easily accessible ETV simulator, and compare it with the existing NeuroTouch for its usability and training effectiveness. This simulator was developed using Unity, Vuforia and the leap motion (LM) for an AR environment. The participants, 16 novices and two expert neurosurgeons, were asked to complete 40 targeting tasks. Participants used the NeuroTouch tool or a virtual hand controlled by the LM to select the position and orientation for these tasks. The length of time to complete each task was recorded and the trajectory log files were used to calculate performance. The resulting data from the novices' and experts' speed and accuracy are compared, and they discuss the objective performance of training in terms of the speed and accuracy of targeting accuracy for each system. PMID:29184667

The grand leap of the whale up the Niagara Falls: converting philosophical conclusions into policy prescriptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Søren

2015-04-01

This article analyzes a neat conjuring trick employed in bioethics, that is, the immediate conversion of a philosophical conclusion into a policy prescription, and compares it to the "grand leap of the whale up the Niagara Falls" mentioned by Benjamin Franklin. It is shown that there is no simple and easy way to achieve the conversion, by considering arguments falling under four headings: (1) reasonable disagreement about values and theories, (2) general jurisprudential arguments, (3) the differences between policymaking and philosophy, and (4) the messy world of implementation. The particular issue used to illustrate the difficulties in moving from philosophical conclusion to policy description is infanticide of healthy infants, but the analysis is general, and the conclusion that the immediate move to policy is illegitimate is quite general.

Do Supplemental Remedial Reading Programs Address the Motivational Issues of Struggling Readers? An Analysis of Five Popular Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Quirk, Matthew P; Schwanenflugel, Paula J

2004-04-01

Five popular, but distinctly different, remedial reading programs were reviewed regarding the potential to motivate children to read. It is argued that current remedial reading program designs and research on program effectiveness ignore the impact that motivation has on struggling readers. In addition, we develop a theory of reading motivation specific to struggling readers that highlights motivational constructs we feel are important to the improvement of reading skill for this population of students. The three aspects of reading motivation most relevant to the instruction of remedial readers include: (a) improving reading self-efficacy; (b) making internal and controllable outcome attributions for successes and failures associated with reading; and (c) establishing personally relevant value in becoming a better reader. We conclude that, while most programs address some motivational issues and other issues not at all, most programs could make minor modifications that would greatly enhance their motivational impact.

Using Informal Articles in Extensive Reading (ER Program: A Personal Experience

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Chothibul Umam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this digital age, informal articles which contain some valuable informations and extensive input to develop the learners’ language proficiency are easily found on internet or other reading sources. Unfortunately most literature shows that informal articles are not widely used in extensive reading (henceforth ER program. For this reason, the paper introduces steps procedure in using informal articles as authentic material in one semester ER program for Indonesian EFL college learners. The procedure is developed on the basis of my great interest in creating innovative way in teaching ER at one of the State Institute for Islamic Studies in Indonesia. The proposed steps are expected to be an alternative pathway in teaching ER for English teachers particularly at a college-university level. Keywords: Extensive Reading, informal article.Copyright © 2015 by Al-Ta'lim All right reserved

What oral text reading fluency can reveal about reading comprehension

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veenendaal, N.J.; Groen, M.A.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

2015-01-01

Text reading fluency – the ability to read quickly, accurately and with a natural intonation – has been proposed as a predictor of reading comprehension. In the current study, we examined the role of oral text reading fluency, defined as text reading rate and text reading prosody, as a contributor

The Mathematics of Infinity A Guide to Great Ideas

CERN Document Server

Faticoni, Theodore G

2012-01-01

Praise for the First Edition ". . . an enchanting book for those people in computer science or mathematics who are fascinated by the concept of infinity."—Computing Reviews ". . . a very well written introduction to set theory . . . easy to read and well suited for self-study . . . highly recommended."—Choice The concept of infinity has fascinated and confused mankind for centuries with theories and ideas that cause even seasoned mathematicians to wonder. The Mathematics of Infinity: A Guide to Great Ideas, Second Edition uniquely explores how we can manipulate these ideas when

LEAP: A randomized-controlled trial of a lay-educator inpatient asthma education program.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Jessica L; Matlack, Kristen M; Simmons, Marsha D; Steinfeld, Jonathan; Laws, Margaret A; Dovey, Mark E; Cohen, Robyn T

2015-06-29

To evaluate the impact of LEAP, a volunteer-based, inpatient asthma education program for families of inner-city children with asthma. 711 children ages 2-17 years admitted with status asthmaticus were randomized to receive usual care or usual care plus a supplemental education intervention. Both groups completed a baseline interview. Trained volunteer lay educators conducted individualized bedside education with the intervention group. Primary outcome was attendance at a post-hospitalization follow-up visit 7-10 days after discharge. Secondary outcomes included parent-reported asthma management behaviors, symptoms, and self-efficacy scores from a one month follow-up interview. Post-hospitalization asthma clinic attendance was poor (38%), with no difference between groups. Families randomized to the intervention group were more likely to report use of a controller (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.2, peducation by trained lay volunteers was associated with improved asthma management behaviors. This novel volunteer-based program could have widespread implications as a sustainable model for asthma education. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Extensive Reading on Reading Comprehension, Reading Rate, and Vocabulary Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Suk, Namhee

2017-01-01

Several empirical studies and syntheses of extensive reading have concluded that extensive reading has positive impacts on language learning in second- and foreign-language settings. However, many of the studies contained methodological or curricular limitations, raising questions about the asserted positive effects of extensive reading. The…

32 Word ROM Memory for a PDP 11 (Circa 1971)

CERN Multimedia

1971-01-01

It occupies a quad-width, double-height flipchip board you can visually read off its contents (presence or absence of diodes). In its time it represented a giant leap forward since you no longer had to toggle the bootstrap in on the frontpanel switches.

Penetration of the renewable sources of energy in Mexico: group of approach to determine the exogenous parameters of the LEAP simulation model (Annexe 10 in 'A vision of year 2030 on the use of the renewable energies in Mexico'); Penetracion de las fuentes renovables de energia en Mexico: grupo de enfoque para determinar los parametros exogenos del modelo de simulacion LEAP (Anexo 10 en 'Una vision al 2030 de la utilizacion de las energias renovables en Mexico')

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pernudi, Montserrat; Alonso C, Antonio [Analitica Consultores S.A. de C.V., Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

2005-08-15

The LEAP simulation model requires the values of some exogenous variables: At international level, the population increase, the economic growth and the international oil prices; at domestic level, the population increase, the economic growth, the energy intensity, the elasticity of demand of energy-price, and the elasticity of energy demand-gross national product. The use of the LEAP model for the estimation of the penetration of the renewable energies in Mexico comprises of the requirements established in the study. To estimate the future long term values of variables as the exogenous ones required by this model by means of expert opinion can be, given the nature of same, equally or more complicated and speculative than to directly consider the future rates of penetration of the renewable energies. In order to reflect on the future values of these variables a group of approach with experts was integrated. [Spanish] El modelo de simulacion LEAP requiere los valores de algunas variables exogenas: A nivel internacional, el crecimiento demografico, el crecimiento economico y los precios internacionales del petroleo; a nivel nacional, el crecimiento demografico, el crecimiento economico, la intensidad energetica, la elasticidad de demanda de energia-precio, y la elasticidad de demanda de energia-producto interno bruto. El uso del modelo LEAP para la estimacion de la penetracion de las energias renovables en Mexico forma parte de los requerimientos establecidos en el estudio. Estimar los futuros valores a largo plazo de variables como las exogenas requeridas por dicho modelo mediante opinion experta puede resultar, dada la naturaleza de las mismas, tan o mas complicado y especulativo que estimar las futuras tasas de penetracion de las energias renovables directamente. Para reflexionar sobre los futuros valores de dichas variables se integro un grupo de enfoque con expertos.

The Leap of a Provincial SME into the Global Market Using E-commerce: The Success of Adequate Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Sainz de Abajo, Beatriz; García Salcines, Enrique; Burón Fernández, F. Javier; López Coronado, Miguel; de Castro Lozano, Carlos

The leap into the global market is not easy when it involves a provincial family business. This article demonstrates how adequate planning is fundamental in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) with the tight budget they have available to them, in order to be able to differentiate themselves in a highly competitive market, taking into accounts the benefits and risks involved. The Information Technology (IT) tools put in place will give the necessary support and allow for the possibility of increasing and improving the infrastructure as the company requires. An adequate strategy for the future to increases sales would be e-marketing techniques as well as the current promotions which contribute to diffusing the brand.

Enhancing academic reading skills through extensive reading ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. The current study explores the feasibility of an extensive reading programme in the context of a low-income country (Mozambique), as well as the influence of extensive reading on academic reading. The programme took over 4 months and was conducted among 30 students majoring in Journalism at the Eduardo ...

Objective and Comprehensive Evaluation of Bisulfite Short Read Mapping Tools

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Hong Tran

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Large-scale bisulfite treatment and short reads sequencing technology allow comprehensive estimation of methylation states of Cs in the genomes of different tissues, cell types, and developmental stages. Accurate characterization of DNA methylation is essential for understanding genotype phenotype association, gene and environment interaction, diseases, and cancer. Aligning bisulfite short reads to a reference genome has been a challenging task. We compared five bisulfite short read mapping tools, BSMAP, Bismark, BS-Seeker, BiSS, and BRAT-BW, representing two classes of mapping algorithms (hash table and suffix/prefix tries. We examined their mapping efficiency (i.e., the percentage of reads that can be mapped to the genomes, usability, running time, and effects of changing default parameter settings using both real and simulated reads. We also investigated how preprocessing data might affect mapping efficiency. Conclusion. Among the five programs compared, in terms of mapping efficiency, Bismark performs the best on the real data, followed by BiSS, BSMAP, and finally BRAT-BW and BS-Seeker with very similar performance. If CPU time is not a constraint, Bismark is a good choice of program for mapping bisulfite treated short reads. Data quality impacts a great deal mapping efficiency. Although increasing the number of mismatches allowed can increase mapping efficiency, it not only significantly slows down the program, but also runs the risk of having increased false positives. Therefore, users should carefully set the related parameters depending on the quality of their sequencing data.

Reading: Time

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Annemarie Wennekers; Frank Huysmans; Jos de Haan

2018-01-01

Original title: Lees:Tijd The amount of time that Dutch people spend reading has been declining steadily since the 1950s. This decline in reading time contrasts starkly with the positive personal and social benefits that can be derived from reading, according to lots of research. The Reading:

Dialogic Reading Aloud to Promote Extensive Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, George M.

2016-01-01

How can teachers motivate students to read extensively in a second language? One strategy is for teachers to read aloud to students to promote the joys of reading generally, to build students' language skills and to introduce students to specific authors, book series, genres, websites, etc. This article begins by discussing why teachers might want…

An investigation of Chinese university EFL learner’s foreign language reading anxiety, reading strategy use and reading comprehension performance

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Zhongshe Lu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present study explored the interrelations between foreign language (FL reading anxiety, FL reading strategy use and their interactive effect on FL reading comprehension performance at the tertiary level in China. Analyses of the survey data collected from 1702 university students yielded the following results: (a Both Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS and Foreign Language Reading Strategy Use Scale (FLRSUS had important subcomponents, (b more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when reading English, and were confident in and satisfied with their English reading proficiency. Meanwhile, (c more than half of them moderately used different types of reading strategies such as planning, checking and confirming, predicting and assessing, when reading English, (d compared with their female peers, male students felt significantly more anxious when facing reading activities, less satisfied with their English reading proficiency, and used specific analyzing and planning strategies significantly less often during a reading activity, (e FLRAS was significantly inversely related to FLRSUS, and both were significantly correlated with the students’ FL reading comprehension performance, and (f FLRAS (overall FL reading anxiety, FLRAS1 (general anxiety about FL reading, and FLRSUS2 (predicting strategies were good predictors of FL reading comprehension performance. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed.

The Habit of Reading: A Neglected Dimension of Adult Reading Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Fink, Katherine T.; Devine, Thomas G.

1993-01-01

Less competent adult readers have not developed the habit of reading. Ways to cultivate adult reading habits include relevant material, environment saturated with reading material, reading aloud to adults, having them read to children, sustained silent reading, modeling, book sharing, author conferences, and recognition. (SK)

Reading Every Single Day: A Journey to Authentic Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Alida K.; Williams, Joan A.

2015-01-01

This article details one teacher's implementation of reading workshop in her second grade classroom. She provided a framework for authentic reading using the five components of reading workshop: time, choice, response, community, and structure. She found that reading workshop is a highly effective practice for not only increasing students'…

Reading Comics

Science.gov (United States)

Tilley, Carol L.

2008-01-01

Many adults, even librarians who willingly add comics to their collections, often dismiss the importance of comics. Compared to reading "real" books, reading comics appears to be a simple task and compared to reading no books, reading comics might be preferable. After all, comics do have words, but the plentiful pictures seem to carry most of the…

Reading Processes of University Students with Dyslexia - An Examination of the Relationship between Oral Reading and Reading Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Henriette Folkmann; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Lauridsen, Lene Louise; Parrila, Rauno

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of oral reading and how it relates to reading comprehension in students with dyslexia. A group of Danish university students with dyslexia (n = 16) and a comparison group of students with no history of reading problems (n = 16) were assessed on their oral reading performance when reading a complex text. Along with reading speed, we measured not only the number and quality of reading errors but also the extent and semantic nature of the self-corrections during reading. The reading comprehension was measured through aided text retellings. The results showed that, as a group, the dyslexics performed poorer on most measures, but there were notable within-group differences in the reading behaviours and little association between how well university students with dyslexia read aloud and comprehended the text. These findings suggest that many dyslexics in higher education tend to focus their attention on one subcomponent of the reading process, for example, decoding or comprehension, because engaging in both simultaneously may be too demanding for them. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reading fluency: implications for the assessment of children with reading disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Meisinger, Elizabeth B; Bloom, Juliana S; Hynd, George W

2010-06-01

The current investigation explored the diagnostic utility of reading fluency measures in the identification of children with reading disabilities. Participants were 50 children referred to a university-based clinic because of suspected reading problems and/or a prior diagnosis of dyslexia, where children completed a battery of standardized intellectual, reading achievement, and processing measures. Within this clinical sample, a group of children were identified that exhibited specific deficits in their reading fluency skills with concurrent deficits in rapid naming speed and reading comprehension. This group of children would not have been identified as having a reading disability according to assessment of single word reading skills alone, suggesting that it is essential to assess reading fluency in addition to word reading because failure to do so may result in the under-identification of children with reading disabilities.

"Read the Text, as if!"The Reading Retention Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Divoll, Kent; Browning, Sandra

2013-01-01

Students do not always read what is expected in college courses (Berry, Cook, Hill, & Stevens, 2010; Phillips & Phillips, 2007; Sikorski et al., 2002) or they read to cram for an exam or quiz (Clump, Bauer, & Bradley, 2004). The Reading Retention Strategy (RRS) is designed to motivate students to read and assist students in…

Do reading additions improve reading in pre-presbyopes with low vision?

Science.gov (United States)

Alabdulkader, Balsam; Leat, Susan

2012-09-01

This study compared three different methods of determining a reading addition and the possible improvement on reading performance in children and young adults with low vision. Twenty-eight participants with low vision, aged 8 to 32 years, took part in the study. Reading additions were determined with (a) a modified Nott dynamic retinoscopy, (b) a subjective method, and (c) an age-based formula. Reading performance was assessed with MNREAD-style reading charts at 12.5 cm, with and without each reading addition in random order. Outcome measures were reading speed, critical print size, MNREAD threshold, and the area under the reading speed curve. For the whole group, there was no significant improvement in reading performance with any of the additions. When participants with normal accommodation at 12.5 cm were excluded, the area under the reading speed curve was significantly greater with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.031, 0.028, and 0.028, respectively). Also, the reading acuity threshold was significantly better with all reading additions compared with no addition (p = 0.014, 0.030, and 0.036, respectively). Distance and near visual acuity, age, and contrast sensitivity did not predict improvement with a reading addition. All, but one, of the participants who showed a significant improvement in reading with an addition had reduced accommodation. A reading addition may improve reading performance for young people with low vision and should be considered as part of a low vision assessment, particularly when accommodation is reduced.

Maternal Reading Self-Efficacy Associated with Perceived Barriers to Reading

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Joyce Lin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Although early reading practices impact a host of child literacy, language, and school outcomes, many parents do not read to their young children. One possible explanation for this lack of early literacy practices is mothers’ feelings about their ability to successfully read to their children. A series of multiple regressions were used to explore whether new mothers’ reading self-efficacy predicted their perceived barriers to reading to their 18-month-old children. Findings suggest that self-efficacy buffers against mother-centered (e.g., too tired, child-centered (e.g., toddler fussy, and structural (e.g., environmental distractions barriers to reading. Given the importance of early literacy and that not all mothers read to their toddlers, increasing reading self-efficacy may offer a way to reduce perceived barriers to early literacy practices.

Reading Strategies Used by Iranian EFL Learners While Reading Academic Texts

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Vida Yousefian

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The major aim of this study was to explore the nature and frequency of the reading strategies used by the EFL learners while reading academic texts. Normally, students tend to read all the information provided in reading materials. This study explores whether learners use reading strategies to assist them in reading comprehension. There was a sample of 45 English language (EFL learners from Islamic Azad University, Falavarjan Branch. The instrument utilized in this study was a survey questionnaire with 30 items including 13 global reading strategies, 8 problem solving strategies and 9 support reading strategies. The survey was going to signify how much EFL learners use each of these strategies while reading academic texts. The findings indicated that the participants used global reading strategies more (44.5% than problem solving strategies (29.0% and support reading strategies (26.5%. The results of the present study will let the instructors improve the reading strategies which are not used by EFL learners frequently. It also helps learners to promote the ability of using reading strategies and utilize the strategies in an appropriate and effective way.

Making great leaps forward: Accounting for detectability in herpetological field studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mazerolle, Marc J.; Bailey, Larissa L.; Kendall, William L.; Royle, J. Andrew; Converse, Sarah J.; Nichols, James D.

2007-01-01

Detecting individuals of amphibian and reptile species can be a daunting task. Detection can be hindered by various factors such as cryptic behavior, color patterns, or observer experience. These factors complicate the estimation of state variables of interest (e.g., abundance, occupancy, species richness) as well as the vital rates that induce changes in these state variables (e.g., survival probabilities for abundance; extinction probabilities for occupancy). Although ad hoc methods (e.g., counts uncorrected for detection, return rates) typically perform poorly in the face of no detection, they continue to be used extensively in various fields, including herpetology. However, formal approaches that estimate and account for the probability of detection, such as capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods and distance sampling, are available. In this paper, we present classical approaches and recent advances in methods accounting for detectability that are particularly pertinent for herpetological data sets. Through examples, we illustrate the use of several methods, discuss their performance compared to that of ad hoc methods, and we suggest available software to perform these analyses. The methods we discuss control for imperfect detection and reduce bias in estimates of demographic parameters such as population size, survival, or, at other levels of biological organization, species occurrence. Among these methods, recently developed approaches that no longer require marked or resighted individuals should be particularly of interest to field herpetologists. We hope that our effort will encourage practitioners to implement some of the estimation methods presented herein instead of relying on ad hoc methods that make more limiting assumptions.

Davies, Florence (1995. Introducing Reading. Davies, Florence (1995. Introducing Reading.

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Sonia Maria Gomes Ferreira

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Arising at a time of unprecedented growth of interest in fostering critical thinking, Introducing Reading offers a clear introduction and thorough account of contemporary developments in the field of reading. While overtly focusing on the special demands of social and human aspects of the reading practice, the issues raised have crucial resonance in the sphere of critical reading. Explicitly addressed to teachers of mother tongue and foreign language contexts, the book claims to elaborate on aspects of reading which have received meager attention to date: individual readers engaged in different real-world reading tasks, the social contexts where such readers engage and interact with texts, and the nature and variety of texts, here regarded as “participants” in the interaction between reader and writer. To this extent, the book successfully reaches the ambitious aim of “socializing and humanizing reading and the teaching of reading” (p. xi. Arising at a time of unprecedented growth of interest in fostering critical thinking, Introducing Reading offers a clear introduction and thorough account of contemporary developments in the field of reading. While overtly focusing on the special demands of social and human aspects of the reading practice, the issues raised have crucial resonance in the sphere of critical reading. Explicitly addressed to teachers of mother tongue and foreign language contexts, the book claims to elaborate on aspects of reading which have received meager attention to date: individual readers engaged in different real-world reading tasks, the social contexts where such readers engage and interact with texts, and the nature and variety of texts, here regarded as “participants” in the interaction between reader and writer. To this extent, the book successfully reaches the ambitious aim of “socializing and humanizing reading and the teaching of reading” (p. xi.

Book Clubs in Developmental Reading: Building Reading Comprehension, Fostering Reading Enjoyment, and Engaging Students

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, Michele

2012-01-01

The use of book clubs in college developmental reading classes is an effective way to encourage reluctant readers to build and strengthen reading skills, foster reading enjoyment, and engage students. In addition, book clubs build a sense of community within the classroom as the students converse and share their interpretations of the reading…

Motivational reading on education, meaningful reading realisation

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Adriana Qafa

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this study I will present some ideas on today’s educational practice for motivation, the realization of the meaningful reading. There is a special place for the methodical ranking of the reading process, starting in school. Main requests of this reading, consist of the deep meaning of the subject, exploration of the idea, and other elements of the subject, implementation of the technique’s rules of the expressive reading, such as breathing, voice, diction, intonation, spelling, stoppages, logical emphasizes, emotional expressions, temper, timber, gesticulations, and mimic. There is also highlighted the fact that the used method comes from the pupils’ results and depends on the capability and level of the teacher, from the programming’s scale, the tools that are put into disposition, the age and the level of the pupils, and from the environment that the teacher creates during courses. At the end there are some practical guidelines for the realization of the expressive reading in the literature subject.

Word Reading Efficiency, Text Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension among Chinese Learners of English

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xiangying; Sawaki, Yasuyo; Sabatini, John

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationship among word reading efficiency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension for adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Data from 185 adult Chinese EFL learners preparing to take the Test-of-English-as-a-Foreign-Language[TM] (TOEFL[R]) were analyzed in this study. The participants completed a…

Readings on Jane Austen. The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to British Authors.

Science.gov (United States)

Swisher, Clarice, Ed.

Designed for young adults, this book on Jane Austen's novels is one of an anthology series providing accessible resources for students researching great literary lives and works. Contributing writers' essays in the book are taken from a wide variety of sources and are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each…

Reading comprehension in english with audio media input among year 6 primary school students with or without dyslexia

OpenAIRE

Deželan, Tadeja

2017-01-01

The findings of scientific research in recent years have begun to emphasize the importance of early detection of general and specific learning difficulties of pupils in schools. Among the specific learning difficulties dyslexia is the most recognizable as well as mostly studied. The latter causes pupils great difficulties in acquiring basic literacy and language skills. Since pupils with dyslexia, among other difficulties, experience problems with reading and consequently reading comprehensio...

Efficient alignment of pyrosequencing reads for re-sequencing applications

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Russo Luis MS

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past few years, new massively parallel DNA sequencing technologies have emerged. These platforms generate massive amounts of data per run, greatly reducing the cost of DNA sequencing. However, these techniques also raise important computational difficulties mostly due to the huge volume of data produced, but also because of some of their specific characteristics such as read length and sequencing errors. Among the most critical problems is that of efficiently and accurately mapping reads to a reference genome in the context of re-sequencing projects. Results We present an efficient method for the local alignment of pyrosequencing reads produced by the GS FLX (454 system against a reference sequence. Our approach explores the characteristics of the data in these re-sequencing applications and uses state of the art indexing techniques combined with a flexible seed-based approach, leading to a fast and accurate algorithm which needs very little user parameterization. An evaluation performed using real and simulated data shows that our proposed method outperforms a number of mainstream tools on the quantity and quality of successful alignments, as well as on the execution time. Conclusions The proposed methodology was implemented in a software tool called TAPyR--Tool for the Alignment of Pyrosequencing Reads--which is publicly available from http://www.tapyr.net.

Neural substrates of reading and writing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Yasuhisa

2008-01-01

Functional MRI has made a great advance in the neurological field because of its low invasion, easiness to collect data to be analyzed by such a globally standardizable software as SPM (statistical parametric mapping), and appearance of academic journals specified for neuroimaging. This chapter of the review describes the activating regions and functions in reading and writing, the essential ability of language belonging to the cerebral highest function, as evidenced by the fMRI and positron emission tomography (PET) images including those under disease states (alexia and agraphia), in the following order; Correspondence of Japanese kanji/kana-words to English ones for studies on activation, Cognitive psychological model of reading, Studies on the activation of reading words, and Studies on the activation of writing words. In this paper, regions are mainly documented in accordance with the coordinate of Montreal Neurological Institute. The third section above mentions the concerned regions in the fusiform gyrus and posterior inferior temporal cortex; lateral occipital gyrus subcortex; temporal plane, superior temporal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus; posterior middle temporal, angular and supramarginal gyri; and inferior frontal gyrus, insular gyri, and supplementary motor area. The fourth section for writing words says the regions in the fusiform gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus and posterior inferior temporal cortex; intraparietal sulcus pericortex, superior parietal lobule and lateral occipital gyrus; and sensorimotor area, posterior middle temporal gyrus and posterior inferior frontal gyrus. (R.T.)

Application of long range energy alternative planning (LEAP) model for Thailand energy outlook 2030 : reference case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charusiri, W.; Eua-arporn, B.; Ubonwat, J.

2008-01-01

In 2004, the total energy consumption in Thailand increased 8.8 per cent, from 47,806 to 60,260 ktoe. Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) is an accounting tool that simulates future energy scenarios. According to a Business As Usual (BAU) case, the overall energy demand in Thailand is estimated to increase from 61,262 to 254,200 ktoe between 2004 and 2030. Commercial energy consumption, which comprises petroleum products, natural gas, coal and its products, and electricity, increased by 9.0 per cent in Thailand in 2004, and new and renewable energy increased by 7.8 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of the total commercial energy supply in Thailand was imported and increased for a fifth year in a row. The changes in energy consumption can be attributed to population growth and increase in economic activity and development. 10 refs., 5 tabs., 14 figs

Developing New Reading Assessments to Promote Beginning Reading in Singapore

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Koh, Kim H.; Paris, Scott G.

2011-01-01

Effective reading instruction and intervention are rooted in effective assessments of children's developing skills in reading. The article aims to describe the development of new reading assessments to help promote beginning reading in Singapore primary schools. We begin with an introduction to the educational landscape and policies before…

Electricity Bill [second reading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hooper, G.; Williams, C.C.P.; Ezra, D.

1989-01-01

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Energy introduced the second reading of the Electricity Bill which provides for the restructuring and privatisation of the electricity supply industry throughout Great Britain. Three features at the heart of the Government's proposals are mentioned - first that the proposals will promote competition in electricity generation and supply of electricity so there will be a downward pressure on costs and prices, second is a new deal for customers and third is the security of electricity supply which will be ensured by the diversity of suppliers. The benefits of the scheme are outlined and then specific details of the Bill are considered. The debate which followed lasted six hours and is reported verbatim. The issues raised included environmental effects, efficiency, energy conservation, research and development and investment. (UK)

Reading Speed as a Constraint of Accuracy of Self-Perception of Reading Skill

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Kwon, Heekyung; Linderholm, Tracy

2015-01-01

We hypothesised that college students take reading speed into consideration when evaluating their own reading skill, even if reading speed does not reliably predict actual reading skill. To test this hypothesis, we measured self-perception of reading skill, self-perception of reading speed, actual reading skill and actual reading speed to…

Exploring Students' Reading Profiles to Guide a Reading Intervention Programme

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Boakye, Naomi A. N. Y.

2017-01-01

There have been a number of studies on reading interventions to improve students' reading proficiency, yet the majority of these interventions are undertaken with the assumption that students' reading challenges are obvious and generic in nature. The interventions do not take into consideration the diversity in students' reading backgrounds and…

Connected text reading and differences in text reading fluency in adult readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Wallot

Full Text Available The process of connected text reading has received very little attention in contemporary cognitive psychology. This lack of attention is in parts due to a research tradition that emphasizes the role of basic lexical constituents, which can be studied in isolated words or sentences. However, this lack of attention is in parts also due to the lack of statistical analysis techniques, which accommodate interdependent time series. In this study, we investigate text reading performance with traditional and nonlinear analysis techniques and show how outcomes from multiple analyses can used to create a more detailed picture of the process of text reading. Specifically, we investigate reading performance of groups of literate adult readers that differ in reading fluency during a self-paced text reading task. Our results indicate that classical metrics of reading (such as word frequency do not capture text reading very well, and that classical measures of reading fluency (such as average reading time distinguish relatively poorly between participant groups. Nonlinear analyses of distribution tails and reading time fluctuations provide more fine-grained information about the reading process and reading fluency.

The role of speech prosody and text reading prosody in children's reading comprehension.

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Veenendaal, Nathalie J; Groen, Margriet A; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-12-01

Text reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading-dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody - which is independent from reading skills - in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could provide more insight into the general role of prosody in reading comprehension. The current study investigates how much variance in reading comprehension scores is explained by speech prosody and text reading prosody, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. A battery of reading and language assessments was performed by 106 Dutch fourth-grade primary school children. Speech prosody was assessed using a storytelling task and text reading prosody by oral text reading performance. Decoding skills, vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension were assessed using standardized tests. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that text reading prosody explained 6% of variance and that speech prosody explained 8% of variance in reading comprehension scores, after controlling for decoding, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness. Phrasing was the significant factor in both speech and text reading. When added in consecutive order, phrasing in speech added 5% variance to phrasing in reading. In contrast, phrasing in reading added only 3% variance to phrasing in speech. The variance that speech prosody explained in reading comprehension scores should not be neglected. Speech prosody seems to facilitate the construction of meaning in written language. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Idea Sharing: The Use of Read-Share-Act to Promote Extensive Reading

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Charumanee, Nisakorn

2014-01-01

Nisakorn Charumanee believes that a reading teacher has an active role in cultivating reading culture or reading habit and in activating students to "want" to read. One way to do this is to integrate extensive reading into the classroom (Day and Bamford, 1998; Bamford and Day, 2004) where extensive reading can be enhanced if the teacher…

The Assessment of Reading Comprehension Difficulties for Reading Intervention

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Woolley, Gary

2008-01-01

There are many environmental and personal factors that contribute to reading success. Reading comprehension is a complex interaction of language, sensory perception, memory, and motivational aspects. However, most existing assessment tools have not adequately reflected the complex nature of reading comprehension. Good assessment requires a…

The Role of Speech Prosody and Text Reading Prosody in Children's Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Veenendaal, Nathalie J.; Groen, Margriet A.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2014-01-01

Background: Text reading prosody has been associated with reading comprehension. However, text reading prosody is a reading-dependent measure that relies heavily on decoding skills. Investigation of the contribution of speech prosody--which is independent from reading skills--in addition to text reading prosody, to reading comprehension could…

To read or not to read

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mol, Suzanne Elizabeth

2010-01-01

There is a widely held belief that reading (story)books makes us smarter and helps promote success in life. Does scientific evidence support this notion? The three meta-analyses in this thesis comprise 146 studies between 1988 and 2010 (N=10,308 participants) that addressed the role of book reading

Multicultural Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Veltze, Linda

2004-01-01

Multicultural reading advocates believe in the power of literature to transform and to change people's lives. They take seriously the arguments that racism and prejudice can be lessened through multicultural reading, and also that children from undervalued societal groups who read books that depict people like themselves in a positive light will…

SchemaOnRead: A Package for Schema-on-Read in R

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

North, Michael J.

2016-08-01

Schema-on-read is an agile approach to data storage and retrieval that defers investments in data organization until production queries need to be run by working with data directly in native form. Schema-on-read functions have been implemented in a wide range of analytical systems, most notably Hadoop. SchemaOnRead is a CRAN package that uses R’s flexible data representations to provide transparent and convenient support for the schema-on-read paradigm in R. The schema-on- read tools within the package include a single function call that recursively reads folders with text, comma separated value, raster image, R data, HDF5, NetCDF, spreadsheet, Weka, Epi Info, Pajek network, R network, HTML, SPSS, Systat, and Stata files. The provided tools can be used as-is or easily adapted to implement customized schema-on-read tool chains in R. This paper’s contribution is that it introduces and describes SchemaOnRead, the first R package specifically focused on providing explicit schema-on-read support in R.

Examining Associations between Reading Motivation and Inference Generation beyond Reading Comprehension Skill

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Clinton, Virginia

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between reading motivation and inference generation while reading. Undergraduate participants (N = 69) read two science articles while thinking aloud, completed a standardized reading comprehension assessment, and self reported their habitual reading motivation. Findings indicate that…

Reading Amount as a Mediator of the Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation on Reading Comprehension

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Schaffner, Ellen; Schiefele, Ulrich; Ulferts, Hannah

2013-01-01

This study examined the role of reading amount as a mediator of the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation on higher order reading comprehension (comprised of paragraph-and passage-level comprehension) in a sample of 159 fifth-grade elementary students. A positive association between intrinsic reading motivation and reading amount…

The relationship between different measures of oral reading fluency and reading comprehension in second-grade students who evidence different oral reading fluency difficulties.

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Wise, Justin C; Sevcik, Rose A; Morris, Robin D; Lovett, Maureen W; Wolf, Maryanne; Kuhn, Melanie; Meisinger, Beth; Schwanenflugel, Paula

2010-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether different measures of oral reading fluency relate differentially to reading comprehension performance in two samples of second-grade students: (a) students who evidenced difficulties with nonsense-word oral reading fluency, real-word oral reading fluency, and oral reading fluency of connected text (ORFD), and (b) students who evidenced difficulties only with oral reading fluency of connected text (CTD). Participants (ORFD, n = 146 and CTD, n = 949) were second-grade students who were recruited for participation in different reading intervention studies. Data analyzed were from measures of nonsense-word oral reading fluency, real-word oral reading fluency, oral reading fluency of connected text, and reading comprehension that were collected at the pre-intervention time point. Correlational and path analyses indicated that real-word oral reading fluency was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension performance in both samples and across average and poor reading comprehension abilities. Results of this study indicate that real-word oral reading fluency was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension and suggest that real-word oral reading fluency may be an efficient method for identifying potential reading comprehension difficulties.

Reading motivation, reading amount, and text comprehension in deaf and hearing adults.

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Parault, Susan J; Williams, Heather M

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the variables of reading motivation, reading amount, and text comprehension in deaf and hearing adults. Research has shown that less than 50% of deaf students leave high school reading at or above a fourth-grade level (Allen, 1994). Our question is, how does this affect the levels of reading motivation and amount of reading in which deaf adults engage? Assessments of 30 hearing and 24 deaf adults showed that deaf participants reported significantly higher levels of reading motivation despite having been found to read at less than a sixth-grade level. No significant difference in the amount of reading between hearing and deaf adults was found. Amount of reading for personal reasons was found to be the best predictor of text comprehension in the deaf participants, and intrinsic motivation was found to be the best predictor of amount of reading in the deaf participants.

The skills related to the early reading acquisition in Spain and Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellés, Pilar; Ávila, Vicenta; Martínez, Tomás; Ysla, Liz

2018-01-01

This paper deals with the skills related to the early reading acquisition in two countries that share language. Traditionally on reading readiness research there is a great interest to find out what factors affect early reading ability, but differ from other academic skills that affect general school learnings. Furthermore, it is also known how the influence of pre-reading variables in two countries with the same language, affect the development of the reading. On the other hand, several studies have examined what skills are related to reading readiness (phonological awareness, alphabetic awareness, naming speed, linguistic skills, metalinguistic knowledge and basic cognitive processes), but there are no studies showing whether countries can also influence the development of these skills.Our main objective in this study was to establish whether there were differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between Spanish (119 children) and Peruvian (128 children), five years old children assessed in their own countries and after controlling Economic, Social and Cultural Status (ESCS). The results show that there are significant differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between these two samples. It's especially relevant, in these results, that the main predictor in a regression study was the country of origin, explaining a higher percentage of variance than other variables such as age differences, in months, or gender. These findings corroborate the results obtained in other studies with migrant population.

An investigation of Chinese university EFL learner’s foreign language reading anxiety, reading strategy use and reading comprehension performance

OpenAIRE

Zhongshe Lu; Meihua Liu

2015-01-01

The present study explored the interrelations between foreign language (FL) reading anxiety, FL reading strategy use and their interactive effect on FL reading comprehension performance at the tertiary level in China. Analyses of the survey data collected from 1702 university students yielded the following results: (a) Both Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Foreign Language Reading Strategy Use Scale (FLRSUS) had important subcomponents, (b) more than half of the stu...

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Cao

Full Text Available Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Exploring direct 3D interaction for full horizontal parallax light field displays using leap motion controller.

Science.gov (United States)

Adhikarla, Vamsi Kiran; Sodnik, Jaka; Szolgay, Peter; Jakus, Grega

2015-04-14

This paper reports on the design and evaluation of direct 3D gesture interaction with a full horizontal parallax light field display. A light field display defines a visual scene using directional light beams emitted from multiple light sources as if they are emitted from scene points. Each scene point is rendered individually resulting in more realistic and accurate 3D visualization compared to other 3D displaying technologies. We propose an interaction setup combining the visualization of objects within the Field Of View (FOV) of a light field display and their selection through freehand gesture tracked by the Leap Motion Controller. The accuracy and usefulness of the proposed interaction setup was also evaluated in a user study with test subjects. The results of the study revealed high user preference for free hand interaction with light field display as well as relatively low cognitive demand of this technique. Further, our results also revealed some limitations and adjustments of the proposed setup to be addressed in future work.

Nonword Reading: Comparing Dual-Route Cascaded and Connectionist Dual-Process Models with Human Data

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard, Stephen C.; Coltheart, Max; Palethorpe, Sallyanne; Castles, Anne

2012-01-01

Two prominent dual-route computational models of reading aloud are the dual-route cascaded (DRC) model, and the connectionist dual-process plus (CDP+) model. While sharing similarly designed lexical routes, the two models differ greatly in their respective nonlexical route architecture, such that they often differ on nonword pronunciation. Neither…

Readings on the Comedies (William Shakespeare). The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to British Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Swisher, Clarice, Ed.

Intended as an accessible resource for students researching William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) "Comedies," this collection of essays about the great playwright contains an in-depth biography and writings taken from a wide variety of sources. The essays are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each…

Reading Approach Use Effectiveness And EFL Reading Comprehension In University Muhammadiyah Of Parepare

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Baharuddin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study investigated Indonesian EFL learners approach of two reading approaches cognitive and metacognitive their perceived contact on effectiveness and the association between reading approach and effectiveness on their English reading comprehension. Fifty-Three English-major freshmen from University Muhammadiyah of Parepare participated in these lessons. Two principal questions were addressed 1 what is the most frequent use of reading approach reported by individual students 2 Is there any significant association between reading approach and effectiveness on their English reading comprehension To examine the effects of approach instruction on students reading performance a qualitative interview technique and quantitative research methods including a paired-sample t-test and Person Product Moment Correlation were used to estimate the relationship between reading approach use and effectiveness on students reading accomplishment. Significance showed that the most frequent use of reading approach was found to be metacognitive approach followed by the cognitive approach. In addition there was a significant positive connection between reading approach and effectiveness on their English reading comprehension. Reading approach on the other hand was unrelated to reading achievement. Results of interview findings were analyzed to explore in-depth in sequence about the condition of approach used. The implications of these findings for implementing effective reading strategy instruction are discussed.

Voxel-based lesion analysis of brain regions underlying reading and writing.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldo, Juliana V; Kacinik, Natalie; Ludy, Carl; Paulraj, Selvi; Moncrief, Amber; Piai, Vitória; Curran, Brian; Turken, And; Herron, Tim; Dronkers, Nina F

2018-03-20

to mid-portions of the middle and superior temporal gyri. Both single-word and sentence-level writing overlapped to a great extent in the left supramarginal gyrus, but sentence-level writing was associated with additional underlying white matter pathways such as the internal capsule. These findings suggest that critical aspects of reading and writing processes diverge, with reading relying critically on the ventral visual recognition stream and writing relying on a dorsal visuo-spatial-motor stream. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Pupil's motivation in the 3. grades for required reading and The Reading Badge

OpenAIRE

Logar, Renata

2013-01-01

Reading is extremely important for pupils and their development. The pupil with reading habits riches his vocabulary and gaining knowledge. On the other hand the pupil through reading entry into the world of imagination and stories. Major role in motivating students to read have parents and teachers. In this graduation thesis I was interested in how third grade teachers motivate their pupils to read. In doing so, I was focused mainly to reading for required reading and The Reading Badge. ...

COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIC READING IMPLEMENTATION TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

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Desy Olivia Riani

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This collaborative action research is aimed to find out whether or not the implementation of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR improves students' reading comprehension and also to identify students' attitude towards the implementation of CSR. CSR is reading strategy that employs four strategies namely Preview, Click and Clunk, Get the Gist and Wrap Up during students’ cooperative learning. A class of eleventh grade students of a public senior high school in Majalengka, West Java, Indonesia is participated as the participant of the study. The required data were collected through the use of questionnaire, observation checklist, and reading test. The data from the questionnaire indicated that 82% students had positive attitude toward the implementation of CSR. They feel that CSR improves their motivation in learning English and CSR brings more fun to the process of learning. Moreover, it was found from observation data that the students were actively participated during CSR implementation and they were motivated when comprehending a text by means CSR strategy. Finally, the study proved that CSR improved students’ reading comprehension. Students’ mean score of reading test in the beginning of the study was 67, meanwhile, after applying CSR as reading strategy, their mean scores improved to 88.

Iowa City Reads! The Reading Event Worth Shouting About.

Science.gov (United States)

Donham van Deusen, Jean; Langhorne, Mary Jo

1997-01-01

Describes the Community Reading Month (CRM) initiative in Iowa City, Iowa; its goals are to promote the value of reading and to build a sense of community. Topics include the development of CRM, increased reading scores of Iowa City's elementary school students, activities for people of all ages, and planning and evaluation. (AEF)

Extensive Reading of Children’s Literature in First, Second, and Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition

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Dominic Cheetham

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Extensive reading of children’s literature can be seen as one of the most powerful means to acquiring a large working vocabulary for both first language learners and second language learners. However, for foreign language learners, children’s literature has a less positive image. For foreign language learners the most commonly recommended reading is of graded readers. Corpus research has shown that work for children has a wide range of rare words, comparable to adult literature, and this leads to the argument that children’s literature puts too great a comprehension and memory strain on foreign language learners, and is an inefficient learning tool compared to graded readers. This paper reviews existing research and examines the arguments for children’s literature in language learning in terms of some features of naturalistic child reading behaviour, and the stylistic choices of writers for children. Replication of child reading behaviours in conjunction with the aid to comprehension and memory inherent in stylistic choices, combined with motivational and practical considerations, are argued to make children’s literature an equal, if not superior choice as extended reading material for foreign language learners.

Reading Self-Efficacy Predicts Word Reading But Not Comprehension in Both Girls and Boys.

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Julia M; Fox, Amy C

2016-01-01

The relationship between cognitive skills and reading has been well-established. However, the role of motivational factors such as self-efficacy in reading progress is less clear. In particular, it is not clear how self-efficacy relates to word level reading versus comprehension, and whether this differs in boys and girls. This study examines the relationship between self-efficacy, word reading and reading comprehension across the range of reading abilities after controlling for reading-related cognitive factors. One hundred and seventy nine children (86 males and 93 females) between 8 and 11 years old completed a self-report measure of reading self-efficacy together with measures of reading comprehension and word reading, working memory, auditory short-term memory, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Boys and girls showed similar levels of attainment and reading self-efficacy. Reading self-efficacy was associated with word reading, but not with reading comprehension in either boys or girls. It is argued that this may reflect important differences between reading self-efficacy and more general measures of reading motivation and engagement. Reading self-efficacy is an element of reading motivation that is closely associated with a child's perceived attainments in reading and is less susceptible to the gender differences seen in broader measures.

Reading Self-Efficacy Predicts Word Reading But Not Comprehension in Both Girls and Boys

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Julia M.; Fox, Amy C.

2017-01-01

The relationship between cognitive skills and reading has been well-established. However, the role of motivational factors such as self-efficacy in reading progress is less clear. In particular, it is not clear how self-efficacy relates to word level reading versus comprehension, and whether this differs in boys and girls. This study examines the relationship between self-efficacy, word reading and reading comprehension across the range of reading abilities after controlling for reading-related cognitive factors. One hundred and seventy nine children (86 males and 93 females) between 8 and 11 years old completed a self-report measure of reading self-efficacy together with measures of reading comprehension and word reading, working memory, auditory short-term memory, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Boys and girls showed similar levels of attainment and reading self-efficacy. Reading self-efficacy was associated with word reading, but not with reading comprehension in either boys or girls. It is argued that this may reflect important differences between reading self-efficacy and more general measures of reading motivation and engagement. Reading self-efficacy is an element of reading motivation that is closely associated with a child’s perceived attainments in reading and is less susceptible to the gender differences seen in broader measures. PMID:28144223

Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Motivation, and Reading Comprehension Performance of Saudi EFL Students

Science.gov (United States)

Meniado, Joel C.

2016-01-01

Metacognitive reading strategies and reading motivation play a significant role in enhancing reading comprehension. In an attempt to prove the foregoing claim in a context where there is no strong culture for reading, this study tries to find out if there is indeed a relationship between and among metacognitive reading strategies, reading…

Reading Fluency and Students with Reading Disabilities: How Fast Is Fast Enough to Promote Reading Comprehension?

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Rollanda E.

2018-01-01

The goal of improving reading rate and fluency is to positively impact reading comprehension; however, it is unclear how fast students with learning disabilities (LD) need to read to reap this benefit. The purpose of this research was to identify the point of diminishing return for students who were dysfluent readers. Participants included 337…

The Great Recession was not so Great

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ours, J.C.

2015-01-01

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a

The Relationship between Strategic Reading Instruction, Student Learning of L2-Based Reading Strategies and L2 Reading Achievement

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Akkakoson, Songyut

2013-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between strategic reading instruction, the process of learning second language-based reading strategies and English reading achievement for Thai university students of science and technology. In a course in reading general English texts for 16?weeks, 82 students were taught using a strategies-based approach…

The Effect of Modified Collaborative Strategic Reading on EFL Learners' Reading Anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shabnam Abbasnezhad

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present study was an attempt to investigate the effectiveness of reading instructional approach called MCSR- Modified Collaborative Strategic Reading on reducing intermediate EFL learner's reading anxiety. Based on a pretest-posttest design, MCSR was implemented with 64 EFL learners at intermediate level. They received EFL reading instruction according to MCSR over two and a half months. A questionnaire called English as a Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Inventory EFLRAI was group-administered atthepretest and the posttest. Quantitative results indicated that participating students demonstrated significant gains in reducing reading anxiety. This study highlighted our understanding by considering the effectiveness of MCSR program and also it elaborated the effects of using strategies like MCSR in overcoming the big problem of reading anxiety among EFL learners as non-native students. And teachers changed the focus of attention from using traditional methods for teaching the essential skill of reading to modern programs like MCSR in order to remove their students' anxiety and stress in reading.

The Effect of Baby Books on Mothers’ Reading Beliefs and Reading Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Auger, Anamarie; Reich, Stephanie M.; Penner, Emily K.

2014-01-01

The impact of a baby book intervention on promoting positive reading beliefs and increasing reading frequency for low-income, new mothers (n = 167) was examined. The Baby Books Project randomly assigned low-income, first-time mothers to one of three study conditions, receiving educational books, non-educational books, or no books, during pregnancy and over the first year of parenthood. Home-based data collection occurred through pregnancy until 18 months post-partum. Mothers who received free baby books had higher beliefs about the importance of reading, the value of having resources to support reading, and the importance of verbal participation during reading. The results showed that providing any type of baby books to mothers positively influenced maternal reading beliefs, but did not increase infant-mother reading practices. Maternal reading beliefs across all three groups were significantly associated with self-reported reading frequency when children were at least 12 months of age. PMID:25264394

Quantum Leap in Cartography as a requirement of Sustainable Development of the World

Science.gov (United States)

Tikunov, Vladimir S.; Tikunova, Iryna N.; Eremchenko, Eugene N.

2018-05-01

Sustainable development is one of the most important challenges for humanity and one of the priorities of the United Nations. Achieving sustainability of the whole World is a main goal of management at all levels - from personal to local to global. Therefore, decision making should be supported by relevant geospatial information system. Nevertheless, classical geospatial products, maps and GIS, violate fundamental demand of `situational awareness' concept, well-known philosophy of decision-making - same representation of situation within a same volume of time and space for all decision-makers. Basic mapping principles like generalization and projections split the universal single model of situation on number of different separate and inconsistent replicas. It leads to wrong understanding of situation and, after all - to incorrect decisions. In another words, quality of the sustainable development depends on effective decision-making support based on universal global scale-independent and projection-independent model. This new way for interacting with geospatial information is a quantum leap in cartography method. It is implemented in the so-called `Digital Earth' paradigm and geospatial services like Google Earth. Com-paring of both methods, as well as possibilities of implementation of Digital Earth in the sustain-able development activities, are discussed.

This is a great book! 101 events for building enthusiastic readers inside and outside the classroom : from chapter books to young adult novels

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Swartz, Larry

2015-01-01

Based on extensive research, this highly readable book champions the belief that having a wide range of "great" books to read is essential to students' becoming readers, both inside the classroom and out.

Pre-reading activities in EFL/ESL reading textbooks and Turkish preparatory school teachers' attitudes toward pre-reading activities

OpenAIRE

Jecksembieyva, Nurgaisha

1993-01-01

Ankara : Faculty of Humanities and Letters and the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, 1993. Thesis (Master's) -- -Bilkent University, 1993. Includes bibliographical references leaves 35-40. The main focus of this study was to investigate pre-reading activities in EFL/ESL reading textbooks and to determine teachers' attitudes toward pre-reading activities. Fifteen reading textbooks for EFL/ESL students for different proficiency levels (beginning, interm...

The Great Beyond: Higher Dimensions, Parallel Universes and the Extraordinary Search for a Theory of Everything

Science.gov (United States)

Halpern, Paul

2005-08-01

Praise for The Great Beyond "A marvelous book-very clear, very readable. A brilliant introduction to the math and physics of higher dimensions, from Flatland to superstrings. Its greatest strength is a wealth of fascinating historical narrative and anecdote. I enjoyed it enormously." -Ian Stewart, author of Flatterland "A remarkable journey from Plato's cave to the farthest reaches of human thought and scientific knowledge. This mind-boggling book allows readers to dream strange visions of hyperspace, chase light waves, explore Klein's quantum odyssey and Kaluza's cocoon, leap through parallel universes, and grasp the very essence of conscience and cosmos. Buy this book and feed your head." -Clifford Pickover, author of A Passion for Mathematics "Halpern looks with a bemused eye at the wildest ideas currently afoot in physics. He takes us into the personal world of those who relish and explore seemingly outlandish notions, and does it with a light, engaging style." -Gregory Benford, author of Foundation's Fear "An informative, stimulating, and thoughtful presentation at the very frontiers of contemporary physics. It is quite on a par with Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe or his more recent The Fabric of the Cosmos, and as such, deserves to receive wide non-specialist coverage among an intelligent, curious, thinking public." -Professor E. Sheldon, Contemporary Physics

Development of a Case-based Reading Curriculum and Its Effect on Resident Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Messman, Anne M; Walker, Ian

2018-01-01

Textbook reading plays a foundational role in a resident's knowledge base. Many residency programs place residents on identical reading schedules, regardless of the clinical work or rotation the resident is doing. We sought to develop a reading curriculum that takes into account the clinical work a resident is doing so their reading curriculum corresponds with their clinical work. Preliminary data suggests an increased amount of resident reading and an increased interest in reading as a result of this change to their reading curriculum.

Priority of Talent Cultivation and Shanxi Transformation and Leaping%人才培养优先与山西转型跨越

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李莉

2013-01-01

Number, quality, distribution and using status of Shanxi human resources are not suited to the development of eco-nomic transition and leaping. So, personnel training has become an impending issue need to be solved. The paper was ex-pounded requirements of ages of the priorities of personnel training and Shanxi transformation & leaping, and analyzed achievements and shortcomings of development of human resources in Shanxi province. Finally, the paper was put forward the establishment of human resources training mode, and establishing security personnel training mechanism through strength-ening organizational leadership and system security, increasing funding guarantee, building talent motivation and growth envi-ronment and exploring management modes of international first-class enterprises’ talents.%山西人才资源的数量、质量、分布及运用状况，已不适应经济转型跨越发展，因此人才培养问题成为迫在眉睫的关键问题。阐述了人才培养优先与山西转型跨越的时代要求，分析了山西省人才资源开发取得的成绩和存在的不足，提出了建立人才资源培养模式的建议，并提出通过加强组织领导与制度保障、加大经费投入保障，营造人才激励和成长环境、探索国际化一流企业人才管理模式等形式，建立人才培养保障机制。

LEAP into the Pfizer Global Virtual Library (PGVL) space: creation of readily synthesizable design ideas automatically.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Qiyue; Peng, Zhengwei; Kostrowicki, Jaroslav; Kuki, Atsuo

2011-01-01

Pfizer Global Virtual Library (PGVL) of 10(13) readily synthesizable molecules offers a tremendous opportunity for lead optimization and scaffold hopping in drug discovery projects. However, mining into a chemical space of this size presents a challenge for the concomitant design informatics due to the fact that standard molecular similarity searches against a collection of explicit molecules cannot be utilized, since no chemical information system could create and manage more than 10(8) explicit molecules. Nevertheless, by accepting a tolerable level of false negatives in search results, we were able to bypass the need for full 10(13) enumeration and enabled the efficient similarity search and retrieval into this huge chemical space for practical usage by medicinal chemists. In this report, two search methods (LEAP1 and LEAP2) are presented. The first method uses PGVL reaction knowledge to disassemble the incoming search query molecule into a set of reactants and then uses reactant-level similarities into actual available starting materials to focus on a much smaller sub-region of the full virtual library compound space. This sub-region is then explicitly enumerated and searched via a standard similarity method using the original query molecule. The second method uses a fuzzy mapping onto candidate reactions and does not require exact disassembly of the incoming query molecule. Instead Basis Products (or capped reactants) are mapped into the query molecule and the resultant asymmetric similarity scores are used to prioritize the corresponding reactions and reactant sets. All sets of Basis Products are inherently indexed to specific reactions and specific starting materials. This again allows focusing on a much smaller sub-region for explicit enumeration and subsequent standard product-level similarity search. A set of validation studies were conducted. The results have shown that the level of false negatives for the disassembly-based method is acceptable when the

The Relationship between Interpersonal Intelligence, Reading Activity and Vocabulary Learning among Iranian EFL Learners

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Mustapha Hajebi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to describe the relationship between Interpersonal Intelligence and the learners' vocabulary learning through teaching reading activity so as to see whether this type of intelligence contributes to better vocabulary learning and whether there is any significant relationship between the performance of participants with interpersonal intelligence and their vocabulary learning in reading activity or not. This quantitative study consisted of a vocabulary test, a reading passage, an English proficiency test and a Multiple Intelligences questionnaire followed the study. A pre- test and post -test were conducted to get the differences in the students‟ post- test vocabulary score and their pre- test vocabulary score served as their gain score in vocabulary knowledge through reading. The comparison between the students‟ scores showed that there was no significant difference in the final performance of two groups. Therefore, this study doesn‟t support the idea of relationship between interpersonal intelligence and vocabulary learning through reading, but as a positive point, the present study indicated that reading texts can greatly assist the learners in developing the level of their vocabulary knowledge. This study proved to be useful for Iranian EFL learners and also EFL teachers can adopt the technique in their classes to advance their students' language learning. A comparison of the results after the next course cycle will then allow us to assess the effects of enhancing vocabulary knowledge, which would not be possible without reading texts.

Development of a Case-based Reading Curriculum and Its Effect on Resident Reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne M. Messman

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Textbook reading plays a foundational role in a resident’s knowledge base. Many residency programs place residents on identical reading schedules, regardless of the clinical work or rotation the resident is doing. We sought to develop a reading curriculum that takes into account the clinical work a resident is doing so their reading curriculum corresponds with their clinical work. Preliminary data suggests an increased amount of resident reading and an increased interest in reading as a result of this change to their reading curriculum.

Early reading intervention by means of a multicomponent reading game

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ven, M.A.M. van de; Leeuw, L.C. de; Weerdenburg, M.W.C. van; Steenbeek-Planting, E.G.

2017-01-01

This study examined the effects of an intervention with a multicomponent reading game on the development of reading skills in 60 Dutch primary school children with special educational needs. The game contains evidence-based reading exercises and is based on principles of applied gaming. Using a

Reading-Related Causal Attributions for Success and Failure: Dynamic Links With Reading Skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Frijters, Jan C; Tsujimoto, Kimberley C; Boada, Richard; Gottwald, Stephanie; Hill, Dina; Jacobson, Lisa A; Lovett, Maureen W; Mahone, E Mark; Willcutt, Erik G; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relation among reading skills and attributions, naming speed, and phonological awareness across a wide range of reading skill. Participants were 1,105 school-age children and youths from two understudied populations: African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Individual assessments of children ranging in age from 8 to 15 years were conducted for reading outcomes, cognitive and linguistic predictors of reading, and attributions for success and failure in reading situations. Quantile regressions were formulated to estimate these relations across the full skill span of each outcome. Reading-related attributions predicted contextual word recognition, sight word and decoding fluency, and comprehension skills. Attributions to ability in success situations were positively related to each outcome across the full span. On three reading outcomes, this relation strengthened at higher skill levels. Attributions to effort in success situations were consistently and negatively related to all reading outcomes. The results provide evidence that the strength of the relation between reading and attributions varies according to reading skill levels, with the strongest evidence for ability-based attributions in situations of reading success.

The Importance of Metacognitive Reading Strategy Awareness in Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadi, Mohammad Reza; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Abdullah, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan

2013-01-01

Metacognitive reading strategy awareness plays a significant role in reading comprehension and educational process. In spite of its importance, metacognitive strategy has long been the ignored skill in English language teaching, research, learning, and assessment. This lack of good metacognitive reading strategy skill is exacerbated by the central…

How do children read words? A focus on reading processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Boer, M.

2014-01-01

Being able to read is very important in our literate society. Many studies, therefore, have examined children’s reading skills to improve our understanding of reading development. In general, there have been two types of studies. On the one hand, there is a line of research that focuses on the

ELL High School Students' Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Use and Reading Proficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Hong-Nam, Kay

2014-01-01

This study investigated the metacognitive awareness and reading strategies use of high school-­aged English language learners (ELLs) and the relationship between ELL reading strategy use and reading proficiency as measured by a standardized reading test and self-­rated reading proficiency. Results reveal that participants reported moderate use of…

Rearing a reading habit

OpenAIRE

Sridhar, M. S.

2009-01-01

Discusses the importance and ways of inculcating reading habit in children at the right age, describes the five reading phases in children along with interest and the material to satiate the need, explains how four deterministic factors affect the reading habit of children, enlists motivations that are behind the reading process with tips to improve reading habit of children.

Effects of Listening While Reading (LWR on Swahili Reading Fluency and Comprehension

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Filipo Lubua

2016-10-01

Full Text Available A number of studies have examined the contribution of technology in teaching such languages as English, French, and Spanish, among many others. Contrarily, most LCTL’s, have received very little attention. This study investigates if listening while reading (LWR may expedite Swahili reading fluency and comprehension. The study employed the iBook Author tool to create weekly mediated and interactive reading texts, with comprehension exercises, which were eventually used to collect descriptive and qualitative data from four Elementary Swahili students. Participants participated in a seven week reading program, which provided them with some kind of directed self-learning, and met with the instructor for at least 30 minutes every week for observation and more reading activities. The teacher recorded their reading scores, and a number of themes on how LWR influenced reading fluency and comprehension are discussed here. It shows that participants have a positive attitude towards LWR and they suggest it for all the reading classes.

Reading Fluency Instruction for Students at Risk for Reading Failure

Science.gov (United States)

Ring, Jeremiah J.; Barefoot, Lexie C.; Avrit, Karen J.; Brown, Sasha A.; Black, Jeffrey L.

2013-01-01

The important role of reading fluency in the comprehension and motivation of readers is well documented. Two reading rate intervention programs were compared in a cluster-randomized clinical trial of students who were considered at-risk for reading failure. One program focused instruction at the word level; the second program focused instruction…

Early Reading Intervention by Means of a Multicomponent Reading Game

Science.gov (United States)

van de Ven, M.; de Leeuw, L.; van Weerdenburg, M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E. G.

2017-01-01

This study examined the effects of an intervention with a multicomponent reading game on the development of reading skills in 60 Dutch primary school children with special educational needs. The game contains evidence-based reading exercises and is based on principles of applied gaming. Using a multiple baseline approach, we tested children's…

STUDENTS’ READING PRACTICES AND ENVIRONMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aiza Johari

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The challenges of reading are indeed apparent in most teaching and learning processes in ESL classrooms. As a result, this study is conducted to resolve the issues of students who seem to find reading to be unbearable. Many of them have limited ability to read well and hence, possess insufficient reading habits to become competent readers, particularly out-of-school context. Besides, poor home literacy environments also contribute to their shortcomings in reading. The main objectives of this study are to identify the students’ reasons for reading as well as to find out their home reading environments (reading backgrounds and habits; reading attitudes and motivation; reading exposure and supports. To identify these, questionnaires were distributed to 120 secondary school students (Form 4: 16 years old from one of the urban schools in Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings indicate that the students read to gain information and knowledge though many chose reading as a hobby as their last choice in explaining their motives of reading. Besides, they preferred non-academic reading materials, mainly lighter forms reading materials such as comics, story books and magazines. Though the students acknowledged the importance of reading in their daily lives, their average reading habits, attitude, motivation, exposure and support within the home domain had suggested otherwise. They mainly read for instrumental purposes while reading for pleasure seemed not to be given priority. Besides, the respondents acknowledge that their parents and themselves did not read much at home. As an implication, it is vital for students to improve their reading perceptions, abilities and practices to achieve personal, societal and national progress. On a final note, parents’ early and continuous efforts to be involved in their children’s literacy events in an out-of-school context are believed to be vital to inculcate positive reading environments, habits and culture

Measuring adult literacy students' reading skills using the Gray Oral Reading Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Daphne; Pae, Hye Kyeong; Morris, Robin D; Calhoon, Mary Beth; Nanda, Alice O

2009-12-01

There are not enough reading tests standardized on adults who have very low literacy skills, and therefore tests standardized on children are frequently administered. This study addressed the complexities and problems of using a test normed on children to measure the reading comprehension skills of 193 adults who read at approximately third through fifth grade reading grade equivalency levels. Findings are reported from an analysis of the administration of Form A of the Gray Oral Reading Tests-Fourth Edition (Wiederholt & Bryant, 2001a, b). Results indicated that educators and researchers should be very cautious when interpreting test results of adults who have difficulty reading when children's norm-referenced tests are administered.

Aspiring to Level 5 Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

DeMary, Jo Lynne S.

2005-01-01

The author shares the lessons she learned from the book, Good to Great. Author Jim Collins and his team of researchers had spent five years studying the characteristics of companies that had gone from good to great and compared these companies with organizations that had yet to make the leap. The concepts and strategies they developed were based…

Exploring story grammar structure in the book reading interactions of African American mothers and their preschool children: a pilot investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Yvette R.; Rothstein, Susan E.

2014-01-01

The aim of this investigation was to identify the book reading behaviors and book reading styles of middle class African American mothers engaged in a shared book reading activity with their preschool children. To this end, the mothers and their children were videotaped reading one of three books, Julius, Grandfather and I, or Somewhere in Africa. Both maternal and child behaviors were coded for the frequency of occurrence of story grammar elements contained in their stories and maternal behaviors were also coded for their use of narrative eliciting strategies. In addition, mothers were queried about the quality and quantity of book reading/story telling interactions in the home environment. The results suggest that there is a great deal of individual variation in how mothers use the story grammar elements and narrative eliciting strategies to engage their children in a shared book reading activity. Findings are discussed in terms of suggestions for additional research and practical applications are offered on ways to optimally engage African American preschool children and African American families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in shared book reading interactions. PMID:24926276

Exploring story grammar structure in the book reading interactions of African American mothers and their preschool children: a pilot investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Yvette R; Rothstein, Susan E

2014-01-01

The aim of this investigation was to identify the book reading behaviors and book reading styles of middle class African American mothers engaged in a shared book reading activity with their preschool children. To this end, the mothers and their children were videotaped reading one of three books, Julius, Grandfather and I, or Somewhere in Africa. Both maternal and child behaviors were coded for the frequency of occurrence of story grammar elements contained in their stories and maternal behaviors were also coded for their use of narrative eliciting strategies. In addition, mothers were queried about the quality and quantity of book reading/story telling interactions in the home environment. The results suggest that there is a great deal of individual variation in how mothers use the story grammar elements and narrative eliciting strategies to engage their children in a shared book reading activity. Findings are discussed in terms of suggestions for additional research and practical applications are offered on ways to optimally engage African American preschool children and African American families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in shared book reading interactions.

Reading: United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Rose-Marie

1983-01-01

An exploration of the increasingly important role of linguistics in literacy research and instruction reviews literature on reading comprehension, written language, orthography, metalinguistics, classroom language use, reading disabilities, native tongues, nonstandard dialects, bilingual education, adult literacy, and second-language reading. (86…

A good Darwinian? Winwood Reade and the making of a late Victorian evolutionary epic.

Science.gov (United States)

Hesketh, Ian

2015-06-01

In 1871 the travel writer and anthropologist W. Winwood Reade (1838-1875) was inspired by his correspondence with Darwin to turn his narrow ethnological research on West African tribes into the broadest history imaginable, one that would show Darwin's great principle of natural selection at work throughout the evolutionary history of humanity, stretching back to the origins of the universe itself. But when Martyrdom of Man was published in 1872, Reade confessed that Darwin would not likely find him a very good Darwinian, as he was unable to show that natural selection was anything more than a secondary law that arranges all details. When it came to historicising humans within the sweeping history of all creation, Reade argued that the primary law was that of development, a less contentious theory of human evolution that was better suited to Reade's progressive and teleological history of life. By focussing on the extensive correspondence between Reade and Darwin, this paper reconstructs the attempt to make an explicitly Darwinian evolutionary epic in order to shed light on the moral and aesthetic demands that worked to give shape to Victorian efforts to historicise humans within a vastly expanding timeframe. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading Disabilities and PASS Reading Enhancement Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Mahapatra, Shamita

2016-01-01

Children experience difficulties in reading either because they fail to decode the words and thus are unable to comprehend the text or simply fail to comprehend the text even if they are able to decode the words and read them out. Failure in word decoding results from a failure in phonological coding of written information, whereas reading…

Readings on the Tragedies of William Shakespeare. The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to British Authors.

Science.gov (United States)

Swisher, Clarice, Ed.

Designed for young adults, this book on William Shakespeare's tragedies is one of an anthology series providing accessible resources for students researching great literary lives and works. Contributing writers' essays in the book are taken from a wide variety of sources and are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young…

The Effect of Collaborative Strategic Reading on Grade Six Students’ Reading Achievement

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Siti Tamah

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the language skills to master by Indonesian EFL learners is reading. In order to assist learners comprehend reading texts, teachers are challenged to apply various teaching strategies. As this paper focuses on teaching reading, two teaching strategies dealing with reading instruction are compared. To be specific, in this paper the writers conduct a study to find the difference between Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR and teacher-centered teaching strategy (by applying skimming and scanning. This study was a quasi experimental, which was conducted upon the sixth graders of an elementary school. The finding showed that reading achievements of the students who are taught using CSR and teacher-centered teaching strategy are not significantly different. Nevertheless, this study using Cohen’s d formula finds that CSR gave a small effect on students’ reading achievement.

Examining the Reading Level of Internet Medical Information for Common Internal Medicine Diagnoses.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchinson, Nora; Baird, Grayson L; Garg, Megha

2016-06-01

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that health materials be written at a grade 6-7 reading level, which has generally not been achieved in online reading materials. Up to the present time, there have not been any assessments focused on the reading level of online educational materials across the most popular consumer Web sites for common internal medicine diagnoses. In this study, we examined the readability of open-access online health information for 9 common internal medicine diagnoses. Nine of the most frequently encountered inpatient and ambulatory internal medicine diagnoses were selected for analysis. In November and December 2014, these diagnoses were used as search terms in Google, and the top 5 Web sites across all diagnoses and a diagnosis-specific site were analyzed across 5 validated reading indices. On average, the lowest reading grade-level content was provided by the NIH (10.7), followed by WebMD (10.9), Mayo Clinic (11.3), and diagnosis-specific Web sites (11.5). Conversely, Wikipedia provided content that required the highest grade-level readability (14.6). The diagnoses with the lowest reading grade levels were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (10.8), followed by diabetes (10.9), congestive heart failure (11.7), osteoporosis (11.7) and hypertension (11.7). Depression had the highest grade-level readability (13.8). Despite recommendations for patient health information to be written at a grade 6-7 reading level, our examination of online educational materials pertaining to 9 common internal medicine diagnoses revealed reading levels significantly above the NIH recommendation. This was seen across both diagnosis-specific and general Web sites. There is a need to improve the readability of online educational materials made available to patients. These improvements have the potential to greatly enhance patient awareness, engagement, and physician-patient communication. Published by Elsevier Inc.

L2 Reading in Thailand: Vocational College Students' Application of Reading Strategies to Their Reading of English Texts

Science.gov (United States)

Kasemsap, Bharani; Lee, Hugo Yu-Hsiu

2015-01-01

This study aims to explore the application of reading strategies to the reading of English texts by Thai vocational college students. Data were collected via questionnaire surveys, think-aloud experiments and semi-structured interviews. The research results reveal different typologies of reading strategies adopted by lower and higher level English…

The Effect of Background Music While Silent Reading on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

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sakineh sahebdel

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This study attempted to determine the effect of background music while silent reading on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The participants were 57 Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 14 and 16 in two 3rd grade high schoolclasses at pre-intermediate proficiency level. Before treatment,both experimental and control groups took a reading comprehension pretest. In the experimental group, the researchers played Mozart sonatas as background music and asked them to read the passage silently and then answer the reading comprehension questions. In the control group, the procedure was the same, but no music was played while silent reading by the students. After ten sessions, the students of both groups were asked to answer another independent but parallel form of reading section of PET as their post-test. The independent samples t-testresultsindicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in reading comprehension posttest, and listening to background music while silent reading had a significantly positive effect on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The results of the present study have implications for EFL students, teachers, and teacher educators as well as syllabus designers and materials developers.

Reading Journal as A Way to Improve Students’ Comprehension toward A Textbook Reading Material

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Menik Winiharti

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Reading journal is one way to record students’ independent learning based on text they read. This study was conducted to find out the students’ level of reading comprehension through some notes written in the reading journal, the extent to which the activity of writing reading journals improved students’ reading comprehension, whether the students got benefit from reading journal. There were 104 respondents coming from four different departments in Bina Nusantara University were asked to read a text related to the subject they learned in a certain session. Then they were assigned to write a journal that records the things they had read. When this task was finished, the lecturer ran a quiz containing related questions to check whether they really understood the content of the text. Afterwards, students were to fill in a questionnaire regarding their opinion on the impact of the reading journal toward their reading comprehension. The findings indicate that more than half of the participants appear to understand the material well, and the task plays a certain role in improving students’ understanding. The most crucial thing is that most students think they get benefit by writing the reading journal.

SchemaOnRead Manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

North, Michael J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-09-30

SchemaOnRead provides tools for implementing schema-on-read including a single function call (e.g., schemaOnRead("filename")) that reads text (TXT), comma separated value (CSV), raster image (BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and JPG), R data (RDS), HDF5, NetCDF, spreadsheet (XLS, XLSX, ODS, and DIF), Weka Attribute-Relation File Format (ARFF), Epi Info (REC), Pajek network (PAJ), R network (NET), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), SPSS (SAV), Systat (SYS), and Stata (DTA) files. It also recursively reads folders (e.g., schemaOnRead("folder")), returning a nested list of the contained elements.

CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT READING COMPREHENSION IN THE SUBJECT ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES / CONSIDERACIONES SOBRE LA COMPRENSIÓN LECTORA EN LA ASIGNATURA INGLÉS CON FINES GENERALES

OpenAIRE

Graciela Feliciana Mayo Castro; Yanelis Karina Ávila Pavón

2013-01-01

Reading comprehension is one of the general abilities of English language in the teaching-learning process. This skill constitutes a cultural and a work device, and it is the basis that helps to acquire of a great amount of knowledge. This methodological suggestion facilitates the development of reading comprehension due to that it is a system of exercises which are organized in a hierarchical way that leads the students to better decode the message expressed in a text. Reading comprehension ...

Exploring Direct 3D Interaction for Full Horizontal Parallax Light Field Displays Using Leap Motion Controller

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Vamsi Kiran Adhikarla

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on the design and evaluation of direct 3D gesture interaction with a full horizontal parallax light field display. A light field display defines a visual scene using directional light beams emitted from multiple light sources as if they are emitted from scene points. Each scene point is rendered individually resulting in more realistic and accurate 3D visualization compared to other 3D displaying technologies. We propose an interaction setup combining the visualization of objects within the Field Of View (FOV of a light field display and their selection through freehand gesture tracked by the Leap Motion Controller. The accuracy and usefulness of the proposed interaction setup was also evaluated in a user study with test subjects. The results of the study revealed high user preference for free hand interaction with light field display as well as relatively low cognitive demand of this technique. Further, our results also revealed some limitations and adjustments of the proposed setup to be addressed in future work.

501 reading comprehension questions

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

This updated edition offers the most extensive and varied practice for all types of questions students might face on standardized and in-class tests. With this guide, students will learn to develop expert reading strategies, understand how to read faster and with greater comprehension, overcome reading anxiety, and increase appreciation of reading for pleasure. This book's step-by-step approach provides graduated coverage that moves from the basics to more advanced reading.

Psychometric Research in Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Frederick B.

This review of psychometric research in reading analyzes the factors which seem related to reading comprehension skills. Experimental analysis of reading comprehension by L. E. Thorndike revealed two major components: knowledge of word meanings and verbal reasoning abilities. Subsequent analysis of experimental studies of reading comprehension…

Critical reading and critical thinking Critical reading and critical thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loni Kreis Taglieber

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to provide, for L1 and L2 reading and writing teachers, a brief overview of the literature about critical reading and higher level thinking skills. The teaching of these skills is still neglected in some language classes in Brazil, be it in L1 or in L2 classes. Thus, this paper may also serve as a resource guide for L1 and/or L2 reading and writing teachers who want to incorporate critical reading and thinking into their classes. In modern society, even in everyday life people frequently need to deal with complicated public and political issues, make decisions, and solve problems. In order to do this efficiently and effectively, citizens must be able to evaluate critically what they see, hear, and read. Also, with the huge amount of printed material available in all areas in this age of “information explosion” it is easy to feel overwhelmed. But often the information piled up on people’s desks and in their minds is of no use due to the enormous amount of it. The purpose of this paper is to provide, for L1 and L2 reading and writing teachers, a brief overview of the literature about critical reading and higher level thinking skills. The teaching of these skills is still neglected in some language classes in Brazil, be it in L1 or in L2 classes. Thus, this paper may also serve as a resource guide for L1 and/or L2 reading and writing teachers who want to incorporate critical reading and thinking into their classes. In modern society, even in everyday life people frequently need to deal with complicated public and political issues, make decisions, and solve problems. In order to do this efficiently and effectively, citizens must be able to evaluate critically what they see, hear, and read. Also, with the huge amount of printed material available in all areas in this age of “information explosion” it is easy to feel overwhelmed. But often the information piled up on people’s desks and in their minds is of

Reading and Empathy

Science.gov (United States)

McCreary, John J.; Marchant, Gregory J.

2017-01-01

The relationship between reading and empathy was explored. Controlling for GPA and gender, reading variables were hypothesized as related to empathy; the relationship was expected to differ for males and females. For the complete sample, affective components were related to GPA but not reading. Perspective taking was related to reading…

Reading Big Words: Instructional Practices to Promote Multisyllabic Word Reading Fluency

Science.gov (United States)

Toste, Jessica R.; Williams, Kelly J.; Capin, Philip

2017-01-01

Poorly developed word recognition skills are the most pervasive and debilitating source of reading challenges for students with learning disabilities (LD). With a notable decrease in word reading instruction in the upper elementary grades, struggling readers receive fewer instructional opportunities to develop proficient word reading skills, yet…

Mapping alternative energy paths for taiwan to reach a sustainable future: An application of the leap model

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei-Ming

Energy is the backbone of modern life which is highly related to national security, economic growth, and environmental protection. For Taiwan, a region having limited conventional energy resources but constructing economies and societies with high energy intensity, energy became the throat of national security and development. This dissertation explores energy solutions for Taiwan by constructing a sustainable and comprehensive energy planning framework (SCENE) and by simulating alternative energy pathways on the horizon to 2030. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP) is used as a platform for the energy simulation. The study models three scenarios based on the E4 (energy -- environment -- economic -- equity) perspectives. Three scenarios refer to the business-as-usual scenario (BAU), the government target scenario (GOV), and the renewable and efficiency scenario (REEE). The simulation results indicate that the most promising scenario for Taiwan is the REEE scenario, which aims to save 48.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of final energy consumption. It avoids USD 11.1 billion on electricity expenditure in final demand sectors. In addition, the cost of the REEE path is the lowest among all scenarios before 2020 in the electricity generation sector. In terms of global warming potential (GWP), the REEE scenario could reduce 35 percent of the GWP in the demand sectors, the lowest greenhouse gases emission in relation to all other scenarios. Based on lowest energy consumption, competitive cost, and least harm to the environment, the REEE scenario is the best option to achieve intergenerational equity. This dissertation proposes that promoting energy efficiency and utilizing renewable energy is the best strategy for Taiwan. For efficiency improvement, great energy saving potentials do exist in Taiwan so that Taiwan needs more ambitious targets, policies, and implementation mechanisms for energy efficiency enhancement to slow down and decrease

Theme: Parents and Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Jund, Suzanne, Ed.

1977-01-01

This journal issue concentrates on the theme "Parents and Reading." It presents articles on sharing books with young children, using public relations in a reading program, guiding preschool learning, assessing language readiness, working with reading problems, and teaching reading readiness in Wisconsin kindergartens. Resources and a review of…

Effects of reading goals on reading comprehension, reading rate, and allocation of working memory in children and adolescents with spina bifida meningomyelocele

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ENGLISH, LIANNE; BARNES, MARCIA A.; FLETCHER, JACK M.; DENNIS, MAUREEN; RAGHUBAR, KIMBERLY P.

2011-01-01

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intact word decoding and deficient text and discourse comprehension. This study investigated the ability to adjust reading in accordance with specified reading goals in 79 children and adolescents with SBM (9–19 years of age) and 39 controls (8–17 years of age). Both groups demonstrated slower reading times and enhanced comprehension when reading to study or to come up with a title than when reading for specific information or for entertainment. For both groups, verbal working memory contributed to comprehension performance in those reading conditions hypothesized to require more cognitive effort. Despite their sensitivity to the goals of reading, the group with SBM answered fewer comprehension questions correctly across all reading goal conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesized cognitive underpinnings of comprehension deficits in SBM and to current models of text comprehension. PMID:20338082

Effects of reading goals on reading comprehension, reading rate, and allocation of working memory in children and adolescents with spina bifida meningomyelocele.

Science.gov (United States)

English, Lianne; Barnes, Marcia A; Fletcher, Jack M; Dennis, Maureen; Raghubar, Kimberly P

2010-05-01

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intact word decoding and deficient text and discourse comprehension. This study investigated the ability to adjust reading in accordance with specified reading goals in 79 children and adolescents with SBM (9-19 years of age) and 39 controls (8-17 years of age). Both groups demonstrated slower reading times and enhanced comprehension when reading to study or to come up with a title than when reading for specific information or for entertainment. For both groups, verbal working memory contributed to comprehension performance in those reading conditions hypothesized to require more cognitive effort. Despite their sensitivity to the goals of reading, the group with SBM answered fewer comprehension questions correctly across all reading goal conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesized cognitive underpinnings of comprehension deficits in SBM and to current models of text comprehension.

Reading disorders and dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2016-12-01

We review current knowledge about the nature of reading development and disorders, distinguishing between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading comprehension. Children with decoding difficulties/dyslexia experience deficits in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming in the preschool years and beyond. These phonological/language difficulties appear to be proximal causes of the problems in learning to decode print in dyslexia. We review data from a prospective study of children at high risk of dyslexia to show that being at family risk of dyslexia is a primary risk factor for poor reading and children with persistent language difficulties at school entry are more likely to develop reading problems. Early oral language difficulties are strong predictors of later difficulties in reading comprehension. There are two distinct forms of reading disorder in children: dyslexia (a difficulty in learning to translate print into speech) and reading comprehension impairment. Both forms of reading problem appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. Implications for screening and for the delivery of robust interventions for language and reading are discussed.

Indirana chiravasi, a new species of Leaping Frog (Anura: Ranixalidae from Western Ghats of India

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A.D. Padhye

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Indirana chiravasi, a new species of leaping frog is described from the northern Western Ghats around Amboli, Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra, India. It differs from all its congeners based on a combination of characters including presence of median single internal vocal sac, head longer than wide, distinct canthus rostralis, tympanum 2/3rd to 3/4th the diameter of eye, vomerine teeth in two oblique series at the posterior border of choanae, long midventral lingual papilla, first finger longer than or equal to second, presence of double outer palmer tubercle, thin and elongated inner metatarsal tubercle, absence of outer metatarsal tubercle, webbing moderate, dorsal skin with glandular folds but without warts, ventral skin smooth without mottling and palms and soles dark brown. Molecular analysis based on mitochondrial 12S and 16S genes and nuclear rhodopsin and rag1 genes suggests that the species is genetically distinct from other species for which genetic data is available. Preliminary observations on the development of the species are also provided. We also provide genetic data and images for Indirana gundia collected from the type locality.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation as Predictors of Reading Literacy: A Longitudinal Study

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Becker, Michael; McElvany, Nele; Kortenbruck, Marthe

2010-01-01

The purpose in this study was to examine the longitudinal relationships of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with reading literacy development. In particular, the authors (a) investigated reading amount as mediator between motivation and reading literacy and (b) probed for bidirectional relationships between reading motivation and reading…

Predictors of Foreign Language Reading Comprehension in a Hypermedia Reading Environment

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Akbulut, Yavuz

2008-01-01

This study investigated factors affecting second/foreign language (L2) reading comprehension in a hypermedia environment within the theoretical framework of dual coding and cognitive load theories, and interactive models of L2 reading. The independent variables were reading ability, topic interest, prior topical knowledge, and the number of times…

Tracking the reading eye: towards a model of real-world reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia

2018-01-01

Eye tracking has helped to understand the process of reading a word or a sentence, and this research has been very fruitful over the past decades. However, everyday real-world reading dramatically differs from this scenario: we read a newspaper on the bus, surf the Internet for movie reviews or

[Ophthalmologic reading charts : Part 2: Current logarithmically scaled reading charts].

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Radner, W

2016-12-01

To analyze currently available reading charts regarding print size, logarithmic print size progression, and the background of test-item standardization. For the present study, the following logarithmically scaled reading charts were investigated using a measuring microscope (iNexis VMA 2520; Nikon, Tokyo): Eschenbach, Zeiss, OCULUS, MNREAD (Minnesota Near Reading Test), Colenbrander, and RADNER. Calculations were made according to EN-ISO 8596 and the International Research Council recommendations. Modern reading charts and cards exhibit a logarithmic progression of print sizes. The RADNER reading charts comprise four different cards with standardized test items (sentence optotypes), a well-defined stop criterion, accurate letter sizes, and a high print quality. Numbers and Landolt rings are also given in the booklet. The OCULUS cards have currently been reissued according to recent standards and also exhibit a high print quality. In addition to letters, numbers, Landolt rings, and examples taken from a timetable and the telephone book, sheet music is also offered. The Colenbrander cards use short sentences of 44 characters, including spaces, and exhibit inaccuracy at smaller letter sizes, as do the MNREAD cards. The MNREAD cards use sentences of 60 characters, including spaces, and have a high print quality. Modern reading charts show that international standards can be achieved with test items similar to optotypes, by using recent technology and developing new concepts of test-item standardization. Accurate print sizes, high print quality, and a logarithmic progression should become the minimum requirements for reading charts and reading cards in ophthalmology.

Parents Using Explicit Reading Instruction with Their Children At-Risk for Reading Difficulties

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McConnell, Bethany M.; Kubina, Rick

2016-01-01

Kindergarten students at-risk for reading difficulties were selected for participation in a parent implemented reading program. Each parent provided instruction to his or her child using the reading program "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" ("TYCTR"; Engelmann, Haddox, & Bruner, 1983). Parents were expected to…

Oral Reading Fluency as a Predictor of Silent Reading Fluency at Secondary and Postsecondary Levels

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Seok, Soonhwa; DaCosta, Boaventura

2014-01-01

This research investigated oral reading fluency as a predictor of silent reading fluency at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Several measures were used, including the Gray Oral Reading Test, the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency, the Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency, and the Reading Observation Scale. A total of 223 students…

Investigating Chinese English Majors’ Use of Reading Strategies : A Study on the Relationship between Reading Strategies and Reading Achievements 

OpenAIRE

Sun, Ling

2011-01-01

For several decades, reading strategies have aroused many researchers’ interest.Readingis a very important language skill for English learners; however, many English majors feel that their reading proficiency is far from satisfying though they have studied English for more than ten years. Therefore, the current situation of using reading strategies among Chinese sophomore English majors is studied in this paper. The research aims to study the relationship between the use of reading strategies...

Who Says They Don’t Read? Slovene Elementary School Students’ Reading Motivation in EFL

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Anja Pirih

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A typical (Slovene teenager today no longer finds reading materials on the book shelves in the local library, but forms a reading list of electronic sources, very often in English. However, in contrast with an abundance of studies focusing on first language (L1 reading strategies and motivation, not a lot of literature can be found on reading motivation in a foreign language, even though it is perceived as one of the most important factors influencing second language (L2 development. The aim of this research is to determine the influences on reading motivation in English as a foreign language in the group of young teenagers (11-14-year-olds and a possible transfer of L1 reading attitudes to L2 reading. The theoretical framework relies on Wigfield and Guthrie’s (1997 self-efficacy theory and Day and Bamford’s (1998 expectancy value model. The data obtained from 197 questionnaires give an insight into not only the frequency of reading in English and the type of reading materials, but also the factors influencing teenagers’ reading motivation in EFL.

Validation of the Leap Motion Controller using markered motion capture technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeragliuolo, Anna H; Hill, N Jeremy; Disla, Luis; Putrino, David

2016-06-14

The Leap Motion Controller (LMC) is a low-cost, markerless motion capture device that tracks hand, wrist and forearm position. Integration of this technology into healthcare applications has begun to occur rapidly, making validation of the LMC׳s data output an important research goal. Here, we perform a detailed evaluation of the kinematic data output from the LMC, and validate this output against gold-standard, markered motion capture technology. We instructed subjects to perform three clinically-relevant wrist (flexion/extension, radial/ulnar deviation) and forearm (pronation/supination) movements. The movements were simultaneously tracked using both the LMC and a marker-based motion capture system from Motion Analysis Corporation (MAC). Adjusting for known inconsistencies in the LMC sampling frequency, we compared simultaneously acquired LMC and MAC data by performing Pearson׳s correlation (r) and root mean square error (RMSE). Wrist flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation showed good overall agreement (r=0.95; RMSE=11.6°, and r=0.92; RMSE=12.4°, respectively) with the MAC system. However, when tracking forearm pronation/supination, there were serious inconsistencies in reported joint angles (r=0.79; RMSE=38.4°). Hand posture significantly influenced the quality of wrist deviation (P<0.005) and forearm supination/pronation (P<0.001), but not wrist flexion/extension (P=0.29). We conclude that the LMC is capable of providing data that are clinically meaningful for wrist flexion/extension, and perhaps wrist deviation. It cannot yet return clinically meaningful data for measuring forearm pronation/supination. Future studies should continue to validate the LMC as updated versions of their software are developed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTEREST AND READING MOTIVATION

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Alhamdu Alhamdu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between interest and reading motivation based on literature review. The concept of the interest portrayed as a psychological state that occurs during interaction between individual and specific topic, object or activity including process of willingness, increased attention, concentration and positive feeling to the topic, object or activity. Meanwhile reading motivation emphasized to mental readiness, willingness and refers to beliefs and perception of individual to engage in reading activity. Some researchers were identified factors that influenced reading motivation such as intrinsic and extrinsic factors, self-concept and value of reading, and interest. In general, the literature review described that have positive relationship between interest and reading motivation.

Using Reading Guides and On-Line Quizzes to Improve Reading Compliance and Quiz Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Maurer, Trent W.; Longfield, Judith

2015-01-01

This study compared students' daily in-class reading quiz scores in an introductory Child Development course across five conditions: control, reading guide only, reading guide and on-line practice quiz, reading guide and on-line graded quiz, and reading guide and both types of on-line quizzes. At the beginning of class, students completed a 5-item…

Effects of sequential and discrete rapid naming on reading in Japanese children with reading difficulty.

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Wakamiya, Eiji; Okumura, Tomohito; Nakanishi, Makoto; Takeshita, Takashi; Mizuta, Mekumi; Kurimoto, Naoko; Tamai, Hiroshi

2011-06-01

To clarify whether rapid naming ability itself is a main underpinning factor of rapid automatized naming tests (RAN) and how deep an influence the discrete decoding process has on reading, we performed discrete naming tasks and discrete hiragana reading tasks as well as sequential naming tasks and sequential hiragana reading tasks with 38 Japanese schoolchildren with reading difficulty. There were high correlations between both discrete and sequential hiragana reading and sentence reading, suggesting that some mechanism which automatizes hiragana reading makes sentence reading fluent. In object and color tasks, there were moderate correlations between sentence reading and sequential naming, and between sequential naming and discrete naming. But no correlation was found between reading tasks and discrete naming tasks. The influence of rapid naming ability of objects and colors upon reading seemed relatively small, and multi-item processing may work in relation to these. In contrast, in the digit naming task there was moderate correlation between sentence reading and discrete naming, while no correlation was seen between sequential naming and discrete naming. There was moderate correlation between reading tasks and sequential digit naming tasks. Digit rapid naming ability has more direct effect on reading while its effect on RAN is relatively limited. The ratio of how rapid naming ability influences RAN and reading seems to vary according to kind of the stimuli used. An assumption about components in RAN which influence reading is discussed in the context of both sequential processing and discrete naming speed. Copyright © 2010 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reading speed, comprehension and eye movements while reading Japanese novels: evidence from untrained readers and cases of speed-reading trainees.

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Hiromitsu Miyata

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence suggests that meditative training enhances perception and cognition. In Japan, the Park-Sasaki method of speed-reading involves organized visual training while forming both a relaxed and concentrated state of mind, as in meditation. The present study examined relationships between reading speed, sentence comprehension, and eye movements while reading short Japanese novels. In addition to normal untrained readers, three middle-level trainees and one high-level expert on this method were included for the two case studies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In Study 1, three of 17 participants were middle-level trainees on the speed-reading method. Immediately after reading each story once on a computer monitor, participants answered true or false questions regarding the content of the novel. Eye movements while reading were recorded using an eye-tracking system. Results revealed higher reading speed and lower comprehension scores in the trainees than in the untrained participants. Furthermore, eye-tracking data by untrained participants revealed multiple correlations between reading speed, accuracy and eye-movement measures, with faster readers showing shorter fixation durations and larger saccades in X than slower readers. In Study 2, participants included a high-level expert and 14 untrained students. The expert showed higher reading speed and statistically comparable, although numerically lower, comprehension scores compared with the untrained participants. During test sessions this expert moved her eyes along a nearly straight horizontal line as a first pass, without moving her eyes over the whole sentence display as did the untrained students. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In addition to revealing correlations between speed, comprehension and eye movements in reading Japanese contemporary novels by untrained readers, we describe cases of speed-reading trainees regarding relationships between these variables

The Reading Habits of Developmental College Students at Different Levels of Reading Proficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheorey, Ravi; Mokhtari, Kouider

1994-01-01

Examines differences in reading habits of developmental college students with varying levels of reading proficiency. Finds that subjects spent an unusually low amount of time on academic reading and even less time on nonacademic reading. Finds no significant differences between high- and low-proficient readers with regard to amount of time spent…

Reading for Pleasure in Paradise: Paired Reading in Antigua and Barbuda

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Warrington, Molly J.; George, Patricia

2014-01-01

Reading for pleasure is essential in the development of literacy. This paper reports on findings from a paired reading strategy introduced into primary schools in Antigua and Barbuda in order to foster children's pleasure in reading. This programme of cross-age peer tutoring intervention began with the training of teachers in a small group of…

"The Great Gatsby" and the Twenties: The Notion of Structure as a Unifying Device in an Interdisciplinary Unit.

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Peale, Lydia

An effective, 3-week unit on the 1920's in America, inspired by a reading of "The Great Gatsby," is designed around the idea of structure in history, government, literature, and writing. It has the following aims for students: (1) to understand the history of the 1920s, (2) to see literature as a creative shaping of the experience of the…

A Case for Improved Reading Instruction for Academic English Reading Proficiency

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Glenn Ole Hellekjær

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents a study of the academic reading proficiency in English of 217 senior level Norwegian upper secondary school students who upon graduation are considered qualified for higher education. Testing with an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Reading Module revealed that two thirds of the 178 respondents with ordinary EFL courses did not achieve the equivalent of the IELTS Band 6 score minimum that is usually required for admission to British and Australian universities. In comparison, two thirds of a sample of 39 respondents with a single, sheltered Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL subject achieved a Band 6 score or better. Closer analysis indicates that the poor test scores can be attributed to weaknesses in current English as a Foreign Language (EFL instruction where reading is neglected, where students do not learn to adjust how they read to reading purpose, and where they do not learn how to handle unfamiliar words to avoid disrupting the reading process. The article ends with suggestions on how to improve EFL instruction, in Norway and elsewhere.

Forecasting of Energy Consumption in China Based on Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Least Squares Support Vector Machine Optimized by Improved Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm

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Shuyu Dai

2018-04-01

Full Text Available For social development, energy is a crucial material whose consumption affects the stable and sustained development of the natural environment and economy. Currently, China has become the largest energy consumer in the world. Therefore, establishing an appropriate energy consumption prediction model and accurately forecasting energy consumption in China have practical significance, and can provide a scientific basis for China to formulate a reasonable energy production plan and energy-saving and emissions-reduction-related policies to boost sustainable development. For forecasting the energy consumption in China accurately, considering the main driving factors of energy consumption, a novel model, EEMD-ISFLA-LSSVM (Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Least Squares Support Vector Machine Optimized by Improved Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm, is proposed in this article. The prediction accuracy of energy consumption is influenced by various factors. In this article, first considering population, GDP (Gross Domestic Product, industrial structure (the proportion of the second industry added value, energy consumption structure, energy intensity, carbon emissions intensity, total imports and exports and other influencing factors of energy consumption, the main driving factors of energy consumption are screened as the model input according to the sorting of grey relational degrees to realize feature dimension reduction. Then, the original energy consumption sequence of China is decomposed into multiple subsequences by Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition for de-noising. Next, the ISFLA-LSSVM (Least Squares Support Vector Machine Optimized by Improved Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm model is adopted to forecast each subsequence, and the prediction sequences are reconstructed to obtain the forecasting result. After that, the data from 1990 to 2009 are taken as the training set, and the data from 2010 to 2016 are taken as the test set to make an

Reading use in preschool

OpenAIRE

Laísa Cristina dos Santos Guilherme; Rodrigo Ferreira Daverni

2016-01-01

Abstract: Reading in preschool is a time of awakening the taste and pleasure in reading, it is also a source of reflection, discovery and learn to listen. It is then necessary that the contact with the reading start from pre-school, with a variety of texts and the teacher also has the habit of reading in their daily lives. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the benefits of daily reading in the classroom pre-school life of a student, which the characteristics of a player and teacher re...

The Role of Reading Skills on Reading Comprehension Ability of Turkish EFL Students

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Ebru Kaya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Reading is a part of our daily lives. It is performed both for pleasure and information. Reading skills are important for the individuals since they foster comprehension in reading. If the students do not have knowledge of reading skills, they cannot be expected to be successful readers. Thus, they cannot achieve the level of comprehension required to pass exams in their own departments. For this reason, reading skills should be taught in universities for the students to be able to cope with comprehension problems. This case study aims to find out whether or not reading skills has a role on the reading comprehension ability of Turkish EFL students. This study is both a qualitative and a quantitative study which lasted for a duration of 14 weeks. Two groups were selected (experimental and control among prep classes at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University. Both groups were administered a pre-test and questionnaire at the beginning of the study to find out if they were aware of reading skills. In addition, 10 students were chosen randomly for interview. During the study, reading skills were infused into the curriculum through designing lesson plans in accordance with the language content and topics for level C students, as determined by the Common European Language Framework. The lessons required the students to use reading skills before, during, and post reading. At the end of the study, the same questionnaire was re-administered. The students were given the post-test and then interviewed. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The obtained data revealed that the students enhanced their comprehension ability provided that they were taught to use reading skills.

The Influence of Translation on Reading Amount, Proficiency, and Speed in Extensive Reading

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Sakurai, Nobuko

2015-01-01

This study attempted to examine the influence of a decrease in translation on the number of words read, reading comprehension, and reading rate in an extensive reading (ER) program. The participants were 70 first-year university students who experienced ER both in and outside the classroom for 15 weeks. The results of regression analyses confirmed…

THE USE OF SCHEMATA IN READING COMPREHENSION: A CASE OF LEARNERS’ READING PROBLEMS

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Cucu Sutarsyah

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The Use of Schemata in Reading Comprehension: A Case of Learners’ Reading Problems. Schemata have an important role in the process of reading. It is almost impossible for a person to read without utilizing schemata. This study aimed to find learners’ reading problem in terms of using sche­mata.  A group of second year students of English Department of State University of Malang were in­volved in this study. As a case study, an interview, observation, and test were used to collect the data. The study reveals that the main reading problems were lack of background knowledge, over-reliance on background knowledge, and lack of background knowledge activation. In the process of reading, learn­ers’ background knowledge should be activated. Without optimal activation, the process of reading does not reach satisfactory results. It is also suggested that learners should not be over confident in get­ting the meaning from the text. Over-reliance on background knowledge might lead to misinterpretation.

Reimagining Reading: Creating a Classroom Culture That Embraces Independent Choice Reading

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Dickerson, Katie

2015-01-01

Many of us are plagued by negative memories of sustained silent reading. In some of these memories, we are the students, attempting to read a book that didn't hold our interest or trying to read over the din of our disengaged classmates. In other memories, we are the teachers, suffering through a ten-minute classroom management nightmare, deciding…

Fostering the Love of Reading: The Affective Domain in Reading Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Cramer, Eugene H., Ed.; Castle, Marrietta, Ed.

Representing current thinking about a wide range of issues related to reading motivation, this book offers a look at how to create classroom cultures that foster in students the love of reading. The book is about teachers and the critical role they play in helping children develop into motivated, active, engaged readers who read both for pleasure…

Reading in developmental prosopagnosia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starrfelt, Randi; Klargaard, Solja K; Petersen, Anders

2018-01-01

exposure durations (targeting the word superiority effect), and d) text reading. RESULTS: Participants with developmental prosopagnosia performed strikingly similar to controls across the four reading tasks. Formal analysis revealed a significant dissociation between word and face recognition......, that is, impaired reading in developmental prosopagnosia. METHOD: We tested 10 adults with developmental prosopagnosia and 20 matched controls. All participants completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test, the Cambridge Face Perception test and a Face recognition questionnaire used to quantify everyday face...... recognition experience. Reading was measured in four experimental tasks, testing different levels of letter, word, and text reading: (a) single word reading with words of varying length,(b) vocal response times in single letter and short word naming, (c) recognition of single letters and short words at brief...

Basic Concepts of Reading Instruction

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Gökhan ARI

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Reading act is performed by connected physiological, psychological and cognitive processes. The operations taking place in these processes are expected to continue for life by being developed with certain strategies. A lot of information is gained with reading skill in education life. Therefore, basic concepts that constitute reading education in teaching and improving reading are important for teachers. The aim of this study is to submit information compiled from the literature about reading education process and which basic concepts are used in reading education. While teaching reading from part to whole, from whole to part and interactional approaches are used. From part to whole approach is at the forefront. Then with interactional approach strategies, both code solving and making sense is improved. Teachers should know the characteristics of bouncing, stopping, turning back, and scanning movements of the eye both in code solving and making sense. The teacher should configure the teaching for the students to gain fluid reading elements by making use of reading out and reading silently. After reading act is acquired; good reader characteristics should be gained by improving asking questions, guessing, summarizing, interpretation skills in integrated readings. Reading skill is improved by studies on the text. Therefore, the students should come across texts that are suitable to their levels, textuality and readability criteria. The vocabulary of children should be improved in a planned way with text-based word and meaning studies. Fluid reading, making sense and interpretation skills of children should be pursued with different evaluation types. In the long term, work should be done to make reading a habit for them.

Writing-Reading Relationships: Effectiveness of Writing Activities As Pre-Reading Tasks to Enhance L2 Inferential Reading Comprehension

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Thilina Indrajie Wickramaarachchi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The study examines the interaction between reading and writing processes in general and more specifically the impact of pre-reading tasks incorporating writing tasks (referred to as “prw tasks” in helping the development of inferential reading comprehension. A sample of 70 first year ESL students of the University of Kelaniya were initially selected with one group (experimental group engaging in “prw tasks” while the other group (control group performing the tasks without a pre-reading component. The intervention was for 6 sessions (one hour in each session. At the end of each session, the performance of the two groups was measured and the test scores were analyzed using the data analysis package SPSS to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. The results indicated that the experimental group had significantly performed better than the control group which indicated the effectiveness of the prw tasks in improving reading comprehension.

Reading comprehension in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Laura L; Rutledge, Stefanie

2014-05-01

Although individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) self-report reading problems and experience difficulties in cognitive-linguistic functions that support discourse-level reading, prior research has primarily focused on sentence-level processing and auditory comprehension. Accordingly, the authors investigated the presence and nature of reading comprehension in PD, hypothesizing that (a) individuals with PD would display impaired accuracy and/or speed on reading comprehension tests and (b) reading performances would be correlated with cognitive test results. Eleven adults with PD and 9 age- and education-matched control participants completed tests that evaluated reading comprehension; general language and cognitive abilities; and aspects of attention, memory, and executive functioning. The PD group obtained significantly lower scores on several, but not all, reading comprehension, language, and cognitive measures. Memory, language, and disease severity were significantly correlated with reading comprehension for the PD group. Individuals in the early stages of PD without dementia or broad cognitive deficits can display reading comprehension difficulties, particularly for high- versus basic-level reading tasks. These reading difficulties are most closely related to memory, high-level language, and PD symptom severity status. The findings warrant additional research to delineate further the types and nature of reading comprehension impairments experienced by individuals with PD.

Using quality scores and longer reads improves accuracy of Solexa read mapping

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Xuan Zhenyu

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Second-generation sequencing has the potential to revolutionize genomics and impact all areas of biomedical science. New technologies will make re-sequencing widely available for such applications as identifying genome variations or interrogating the oligonucleotide content of a large sample (e.g. ChIP-sequencing. The increase in speed, sensitivity and availability of sequencing technology brings demand for advances in computational technology to perform associated analysis tasks. The Solexa/Illumina 1G sequencer can produce tens of millions of reads, ranging in length from ~25–50 nt, in a single experiment. Accurately mapping the reads back to a reference genome is a critical task in almost all applications. Two sources of information that are often ignored when mapping reads from the Solexa technology are the 3' ends of longer reads, which contain a much higher frequency of sequencing errors, and the base-call quality scores. Results To investigate whether these sources of information can be used to improve accuracy when mapping reads, we developed the RMAP tool, which can map reads having a wide range of lengths and allows base-call quality scores to determine which positions in each read are more important when mapping. We applied RMAP to analyze data re-sequenced from two human BAC regions for varying read lengths, and varying criteria for use of quality scores. RMAP is freely available for downloading at http://rulai.cshl.edu/rmap/. Conclusion Our results indicate that significant gains in Solexa read mapping performance can be achieved by considering the information in 3' ends of longer reads, and appropriately using the base-call quality scores. The RMAP tool we have developed will enable researchers to effectively exploit this information in targeted re-sequencing projects.

Does Use of Text-to-Speech and Related Read-Aloud Tools Improve Reading Comprehension for Students with Reading Disabilities? A Meta-Analysis

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Wood, Sarah G.; Moxley, Jerad H.; Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Wagner, Richard K.

2018-01-01

Text-to-speech and related read-aloud tools are being widely implemented in an attempt to assist students' reading comprehension skills. Read-aloud software, including text-to-speech, is used to translate written text into spoken text, enabling one to listen to written text while reading along. It is not clear how effective text-to-speech is at…

Reading motivation in elementary school students

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Sonja Pečjak

2005-02-01

Full Text Available Reading motivation is one of the crucial factors of reading and consequently also learning efficiency of students. The purpose of the contribution is to establish the connection between dimensions of reading motivation and reading achievement in elementary school students. Participating in the study were 1073 third-grade and 1282 seventh-grade students. We used the questionnaire of reading motivation which consists of two factors: the reading competence factor and the interest and perceived reading importance factor. The findings of the study are the following: third-graders are more competent and more interested in reading compared to seventh-graders. The same is true for girls in both educational levels. Reading competence , interest and perceived reading importance reflect also in the actual reading behaviour of students – students who are more competent and more interested in reading read more frequently, for longer periods and more often autonomously decide to read compared to their less motivated peers. Higher reading motivation has implications also for higher reading efficiency. Namely, good readers are more competent, show higher interest and perceive reading as more important compared to average and bad readers.

ESL Students’ Online and Offline Reading Strategies: Scrolling, Clicking, Flipping and Reading

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Izyani Mohamad Zaki

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In this borderless world, computers and the Internet have become important tools of communication and learning and they have also become an important part of our lives. The opportunity to seek information through the computer has made reading an important language skill. Despite the importance of reading and technology, little research to date has been carried out to compare the reading strategies employed by readers when reading online compared to offline. Such studies are important because awareness of the similarities and differences on the strategies employed between these two modes of learning will enable teachers to help develop students’ reading ability. Hence, this study investigates if there is a difference between online and offline strategies used by second language readers. The participants in this study were ESL undergraduates at a university in Malaysia. The instrument employed was the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS (Sheorey and Mokhtari, 2001 and Online Survey of Register Strategies (OSORS by Anderson (2003. These questionnaires tap three different types of information: global reading strategies, problem solving strategies, and support strategies. The results of the study are discussed in terms of their pedagogical implications in the L2 classroom.

Effects of reading-oriented tasks on students' reading comprehension of geometry proof

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Yang, Kai-Lin; Lin, Fou-Lai

2012-06-01

This study compared the effects of reading-oriented tasks and writing-oriented tasks on students' reading comprehension of geometry proof (RCGP). The reading-oriented tasks were designed with reading strategies and the idea of problem posing. The writing-oriented tasks were consistent with usual proof instruction for writing a proof and applying it. Twenty-two classes of ninth-grade students ( N = 683), aged 14 to 15 years, and 12 mathematics teachers participated in this quasi-experimental classroom study. While the experimental group was instructed to read and discuss the reading tasks in two 45-minute lessons, the control group was instructed to prove and apply the same propositions. Generalised estimating equation (GEE) method was used to compare the scores of the post-test and the delayed post-test with the pre-test scores as covariates. Results showed that the total scores of the delayed post-test of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Furthermore, the scores of the experimental group on all facets of reading comprehension except the application facet were significantly higher than those of the control group for both the post-test and delayed post-test.

Reading literacy and reading self-concept of year 6 primary school students

OpenAIRE

Cegnar, Katja

2017-01-01

In the present Master thesis, we research the relation between the reading literacy and its components and the reading self-concept in grade 6 elementary school students. Sixth grade students were chosen because they are partially taught by class teachers and because we assume that they are already familiar with the reading comprehension technique and have a more-or-less stable reading self-concept. In the theoretical part, we present the importance of functional literacy and of other types o...

Determination of trace element level in different tissues of the leaping mullet (Liza saliens, Mugilidae) collected from Caspian Sea.

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Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Ali; Eslami, Shahram; Nabavi, Seyed Fazel; Nabavi, Seyed Mohammad

2011-12-01

The concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Cd, and Zn were determined in the brain, heart, liver, gill, gonad, spleen, kidney, and red and white muscles of Liza saliens (leaping mullet). Trace element levels in fish samples were analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Among the non-essential metals, the levels of Ni and Pb in the tissues were higher than limits for fish proposed by FAO/WHO, EU, and TFC. Generally, the levels of the non-essential metals were much higher than those of manganese in the red and white muscles. Fe distribution pattern in tissues was in order of spleen > liver > heart > gill > brain > kidney > gonad > red muscle > white muscle. Red muscle was not within the safe limits for human consumption because non-essential metal (Ni, Pb) contents were higher than standard limits.

Accurate estimation of short read mapping quality for next-generation genome sequencing

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Ruffalo, Matthew; Koyutürk, Mehmet; Ray, Soumya; LaFramboise, Thomas

2012-01-01

Motivation: Several software tools specialize in the alignment of short next-generation sequencing reads to a reference sequence. Some of these tools report a mapping quality score for each alignment—in principle, this quality score tells researchers the likelihood that the alignment is correct. However, the reported mapping quality often correlates weakly with actual accuracy and the qualities of many mappings are underestimated, encouraging the researchers to discard correct mappings. Further, these low-quality mappings tend to correlate with variations in the genome (both single nucleotide and structural), and such mappings are important in accurately identifying genomic variants. Approach: We develop a machine learning tool, LoQuM (LOgistic regression tool for calibrating the Quality of short read mappings, to assign reliable mapping quality scores to mappings of Illumina reads returned by any alignment tool. LoQuM uses statistics on the read (base quality scores reported by the sequencer) and the alignment (number of matches, mismatches and deletions, mapping quality score returned by the alignment tool, if available, and number of mappings) as features for classification and uses simulated reads to learn a logistic regression model that relates these features to actual mapping quality. Results: We test the predictions of LoQuM on an independent dataset generated by the ART short read simulation software and observe that LoQuM can ‘resurrect’ many mappings that are assigned zero quality scores by the alignment tools and are therefore likely to be discarded by researchers. We also observe that the recalibration of mapping quality scores greatly enhances the precision of called single nucleotide polymorphisms. Availability: LoQuM is available as open source at http://compbio.case.edu/loqum/. Contact: matthew.ruffalo@case.edu. PMID:22962451

Engaging Struggling Early Readers to Promote Reading Success: A Pilot Study of Reading by Design

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Mendez, Linda M. Raffaele; Pelzmann, Catherine A.; Frank, Michael J.

2016-01-01

In this study, we piloted a Tier 2 intervention designed to improve reading skills among struggling early readers using an intervention that included SRA Reading Mastery, listening-while-reading activities, strategies to increase motivation and engagement in reading, and parent involvement in reading homework. The study included 6 students in…

Transparent and flexible write-once-read-many (WORM) memory device based on egg albumen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu, Bo; Lin, Qianru; Wan, Tao; Du, Haiwei; Chen, Nan; Lin, Xi; Chu, Dewei

2017-01-01

Egg albumen, as an important protein resource in nature, is an interesting dielectric material exhibiting many fascinating properties for the development of environmentally friendly electronic devices. Taking advantage of their extraordinary transparency and flexibility, this paper presents an innovative preparation approach for albumen thin film based write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory devices in a simple, cost-effective manner. The fabricated device shows superior data retention properties including non-volatile character (over 10 5 s) and promising great read durability (10 6 times). Furthermore, our results suggested that the electric-field-induced trap-controlled space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction is responsible for the observed resistance switching effect. The present study may likely reveal another pathway towards complete see-through electrical devices. (paper)

Transparent and flexible write-once-read-many (WORM) memory device based on egg albumen

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Bo; Lin, Qianru; Wan, Tao; Du, Haiwei; Chen, Nan; Lin, Xi; Chu, Dewei

2017-08-01

Egg albumen, as an important protein resource in nature, is an interesting dielectric material exhibiting many fascinating properties for the development of environmentally friendly electronic devices. Taking advantage of their extraordinary transparency and flexibility, this paper presents an innovative preparation approach for albumen thin film based write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory devices in a simple, cost-effective manner. The fabricated device shows superior data retention properties including non-volatile character (over 105 s) and promising great read durability (106 times). Furthermore, our results suggested that the electric-field-induced trap-controlled space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction is responsible for the observed resistance switching effect. The present study may likely reveal another pathway towards complete see-through electrical devices.

Reading Evaluation

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Fagan, W. T.

1978-01-01

The Canadian Institute for Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences of Calgary was awarded a contract by the Provincial Government of Alberta to assess student skills and knowledge in reading and written composition. Here evaluation is defined and the use of standardized and criterion referenced tests for evaluating reading performance are…

Reading Incentives that Work: No-Cost Strategies to Motivate Kids to Read and Love It!

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Small, Ruth V.

2009-01-01

In education, it is possible to find dozens of examples of "forced" reading incentive programs that categorize student reading levels, provide limited reading lists coordinated with those reading levels, assess student reading through computer-based tests, and award tangible prizes when they pass the test. Those who perform best get the most…

The Impact of Reading for Pleasure on Georgian University EFL Students' Reading Comprehension (IBSU Case)

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Goctu, Ramazan

2016-01-01

Reading is one of the most significant skills, particularly for EFL students. Many students today do not have the reading skills needed to do effective work in their courses. This paper explores reading for pleasure, its importance and impact on reading comprehension. Pleasure reading helps students to communicate, listen and, most importantly, to…

E-Readers and the Effects on Students' Reading Motivation, Attitude and Comprehension during Guided Reading

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Long, Deanna; Szabo, Susan

2016-01-01

This quasi-experimental mixed methods study examined the use of e-readers during guided reading instruction and its impact on 5th grade students' reading motivation, attitude toward reading, and reading comprehension. For 10 weeks, 19 students received guided reading instruction by means of the traditional paper/text format, while 16 students…

The Impact of a Therapy Dog Program on Children's Reading Skills and Attitudes toward Reading

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Kirnan, Jean; Siminerio, Steven; Wong, Zachary

2016-01-01

An existing school program in which therapy dogs are integrated into the reading curriculum was analyzed to determine the effect on student reading. Previous literature suggests an improvement in both reading skills and attitudes towards reading when students read in the presence of a therapy dog. Using a mixed method model, the researchers…

"Passageless" Administration of the Nelson-Denny Reading Comprehension Test: Associations with IQ and Reading Skills

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Ready, Rebecca E.; Chaudhry, Maheen F.; Schatz, Kelly C.; Strazzullo, Sarah

2013-01-01

There are few tests that assess reading comprehension in adults, but these tests are needed for a comprehensive assessment of reading disorders (RD). "The Nelson-Denny Reading Test" (NDRT) has a long-passage reading comprehension component that can be used with adolescents and adults. A problem with the NDRT is that reading comprehension…

Understanding Children's Reading Activities: Reading Motivation, Skill and Child Characteristics as Predictors

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McGeown, Sarah P.; Osborne, Cara; Warhurst, Amy; Norgate, Roger; Duncan, Lynne G.

2016-01-01

This study examined the extent to which a range of child characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status, reading skill and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation) predicted engagement (i.e., time spent) in different reading activities (fiction books, factual books, school textbooks, comics, magazines and digital texts). In total, 791 children…

Effects of EFL Individual Learner Variables on Foreign Language Reading Anxiety and Metacognitive Reading Strategy Use.

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Lien, Hsin-Yi

2016-08-01

Past research has shown an association between foreign language reading anxiety and reading strategy. However, individual variables tend to affect foreign language anxiety and strategy use. The present study examined a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects among English and foreign languages readers' distinct variables, including academic level; self-perceived English level; and satisfaction with reading proficiency, reading anxiety, and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. A total of 523 volunteer Taiwanese college students provided 372 valid responses to a written questionnaire (281 women and 91 men; M age = 19.7 years, SD = 1.1) containing the translated versions of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale, Survey of Reading Strategies Inventory, and self-assessment background questionnaire. The results showed that self-evaluation of reading proficiency did not correlate with academic level and readers' perceptions. Satisfaction had a direct effect on foreign language reading anxiety but not on metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Results of path analysis demonstrated that the perception learners who had their own reading proficiency predicted their foreign language reading anxiety and was a mediating variable for metacognitive reading strategy use. © The Author(s) 2016.

Reading for All; Proceedings of the IRA (International Reading Association) World Congress on Reading (4th, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 3-5, 1972).

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Karlin, Robert, Ed.

This book contains papers presented at the Fourth International Reading Association World Congress on Reading in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in August 1972. The contents of the book are divided into three parts: "Literacy and Literature" includes papers on libraries, books, and reading by Jorge Borges, the future of reading by Theodore Harris, the…

The Relationship between Reading Proficiency and Reading Strategy Use: A Study of Adult ESL Learners

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Huang, Jiuhan; Nisbet, Deanna

2014-01-01

This article explores the relationship between reading strategy use and reading proficiency among 121 adult ESL learners. Reading strategy use was measured by the SORS, and reading proficiency was determined by the CASAS Reading Test and BEST Literacy Test. Findings of the study reveal that (a) adult ESL learners are active strategies users; (b)…

It Takes Two to Read: Interactive Reading with Young Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

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Dirks, Evelien; Wauters, Loes

2018-04-04

Interactive storybook reading is an important activity to enhance the emergent literacy skills of young deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. Parents have a crucial role to play in promoting their children's literacy development. However, parents often do not read in an interactive way; therefore guidance is recommended in applying these interactive reading strategies. In the present study we examined how parent reading behavior was affected by implementing an interactive reading training program for parents of young DHH children. Parents of 18 DHH toddlers in the Netherlands participated in a series of group training sessions and their interactive reading behavior was compared to that of 10 parents who did not participate. The results showed that parents' interactive reading behavior tended to increase after they participated in the interactive reading program. After the program, they applied the interactive reading strategies more often than parents who had not participated in the program. The findings suggest that interactive reading programs should be incorporated into early intervention programs for DHH children.

Fostering Fifth Graders’ Reading Comprehension through the use of Intensive Reading in Physical Science

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Alethia Paola Bogoya González

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Reading comprehension in a content area needs to be seen from both the content and language perspectives. This paper examines the use of intensive reading, a strategy taken from the language teaching field, to help students improve their reading comprehension ability and develop understanding of science concepts. The study was carried out in a fifth grade class at a private bilingual institution of Bogotá. Reading was analyzed using a mixed-method approach that utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods. The first method was done through students’ interviews, artefacts, and a teacher’s journal, and the second by means of two reading tests, Cloze and CARI, Content Area Reading Inventory Test. The statistical analysis shows that students improved their reading comprehension ability as their scores for the post-test were higher than those of the pre-test; this increment is statistically significant as p ≤ .05 when applying a t-test. The qualitative analysis shows that structured reading practices lead to the development of students’ cognitive processes. Overall, the results indicate that reading in sciences hould be seen as dynamic process that incorporates learners’ strategies in order to develop conceptual understanding.

Reading in a Digital Age: Issues and Future of Reading on the Web among Young People

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Shan-Ju Lin Chang

2010-12-01

Full Text Available “Reading on the Internet” or digital reading has been a controversial issue in recent years as more and more young adults spent more time on Internet, and engaged in reading activities which may differ from the traditional conception of reading. More importantly, some observe that digital reading seems to have negative impacts on students’ reading capabilities at the individual level and citizens’ literacy at the national level. How can we understand the phenomenon of reading in a digital age? Online activities are facilitating or hindering the development of reading capabilities of young adults? What do we mean when we evaluate the reading capabilities in a digital age? This paper explores the pros and cons of reading on the Internet or digital reading, the technological, social and economic forces that influence those viewpoints, and discusses the findings of some empirical studies. The implications from this study for educational policy makers and educators conclude this paper. [Article content in Chinese; Extended abstract in English

Examining the Effectiveness of Pre-Reading Strategies on Saudi EFL College Students' Reading Comprehension

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Al Rasheed, Hana S. S.

2014-01-01

Reading comprehension is a key issue in learning English as a foreign language, and it is critical that teachers utilize pre-reading strategies in reading classes in order to help students enhance their comprehension. The present study investigates the effectiveness of two pre-reading strategies on EFL students' performance in reading…

READING COMPREHENSION. NOTION OF READING AND USE OF MACRORREGLAS

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Ana María Montes-Salas

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In the NMS has been relevant to investigate the notion of reading and how reading comprehension skills are developed as they are the basis of learning. According to Frida Diaz Barriga and Hernandez (2002 critical and reflective understanding of the composition of texts written are nodal activities in the construction of meanings. We now know that the skills of reading and typesetting apprentices develop in subjects strategically and self-regulated, thanks to this research. Promote the development of communication skills contributes to the foundation of the curriculum consists of educating for students to acquire skills that allow them to face problems collaboratively and competently.

Reading the Web: Internet Guided Reading with Young Children

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Salyer, David

2015-01-01

Online reading requires traditional and new comprehension skills and strategies, and these skills and strategies will have to be taught and supported, especially for young beginning readers. But how do elementary teachers go about doing this? Much of the research regarding teaching and supporting online reading comprehension has focused on older…

The Keefe Inventory of Silent Reading: A Window into the Reading Process.

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Keefe, Donald

1993-01-01

Contains part of the Keefe Inventory of Silent Reading, a silent informal reading inventory. Presents a case study of a student to whom it was administered, including analysis of this individual's reading ability and description of the specific strategies used with this individual on the basis of the results of the inventory. (RS)

Reading for Writing: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Reading Interventions on Writing

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Graham, Steve; Liu, Xinghua; Bartlett, Brendan; Ng, Clarence; Harris, Karen R.; Aitken, Angelique; Barkel, Ashley; Kavanaugh, Colin; Talukdar, Joy

2018-01-01

This meta-analysis examined if students' writing performance is improved by reading interventions in studies (k = 54 experiments; 5,018 students) where students were taught how to read and studies (k = 36 investigations; 3,060 students) where students' interaction with words or text was increased through reading or observing others read. Studies…

[Developmental changes in reading ability of Japanese elementary school children--analysis of 4 kana reading tasks].

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tomoka; Inagaki, Masumi; Gunji, Atsuko; Yatabe, Kiyomi; Kaga, Makiko; Goto, Takaaki; Koike, Toshihide; Wakamiya, Eiji; Koeda, Tatsuya

2010-01-01

Five hundred and twenty-eight Japanese elementary school children aged from 6 (Grade 1) to 12 (Grade 6) were tested for their abilities to read Hiragana characters, words, and short sentences. They were typically developing children whom the classroom teachers judged to have no problems with reading and writing in Japanese. Each child was asked to read four tasks which were written in Hiragana script: single mora reading task, four syllable non-word reading task, four syllable word reading task, and short sentence reading task. The total articulation time for reading and performance in terms of accuracy were measured for each task. Developmental changes in these variables were evaluated. The articulation time was significantly longer for the first graders, and it gradually shortened as they moved through to the upper grades in all tasks. The articulation time reached a plateau in the 4th grade for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks, while it did so for the single mora and four syllable non-word reading tasks in the 5th grade. The articulation times for the four syllable word and short sentence reading tasks correlated strongly. There were very few clear errors for all tasks, and the number of such errors significantly changed between the school grades only for the single mora and four syllable word reading tasks. It was noted that more than half of the children read the beginning portion of the word or phrase twice or more, in order to read it accurately, and developmental changes were also seen in this pattern of reading. This study revealed that the combination of these reading tasks may function as a screening test for reading disorders such as developmental dyslexia in children below the age of ten or eleven years old.

Construction of an Arabic reading test for assessment of dyslexic children.

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Abou El-Ella, Mahmoud Y; Sayed, Emam M; Farghaly, Wafaa M; Abdel-Haleem, Emad K; Hussein, Eman S

2004-07-01

Dyslexia is a specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin, characterized by difficulties in phonological processing. The Arabic language differs in many aspects from foreign languages and the few previously designed Arabic tests for assessment of dyslexia did not pay attention to phonological awareness problems. This necessitates the design of an Arabic test which could properly assign specific difficulties among Arabic reading dyslexic children, including phonological awareness as a major contributing factor for dyslexia. The study was carried out in Assiut City, Egypt, during the period from September 1999 to the end of January 2001. The newly designed Arabic Reading Test (ART) in this work passed through many stages. Firstly, test construction by 11 Arabic teachers (specific judges). Secondly it was applied, in a pilot study, to 50 normal students (9-10 years old) to ascertain clarity of the test. Then test standardization was proven through application on a second sample (n=252 students), and third sample (n=58 dyslexics). The reliability of the ART was proven by the test-retest method (r=0.913, pdyslexia among Arabic reading children. It has great value in predicting dyslexia even among preschool age Arabic speaking children, through assessment of their phonological awareness skills, and thus, remediation programs can be properly and early directed.

The relationship between children's reading motivation and reading competence

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

白晴雪

2016-01-01

It has been found that motivation is very important to children's reading competence. This paper intended to study intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and find their relationship with children's reading competence. In order to do so, previous investigations about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were critically reviewed, and their results were discussed in this paper.

Reading assessment and training program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, C.L.

1991-01-01

The objective was to ensure ourselves and the general public that the workers in the Nuclear Materials Processing Department (NMPD) could read, follow, and understand procedures. Procedures were randomly selected and analyzed for reading levels. A tenth grade reading level was established as the standard for all NMPD employees. Employees were tested to determine reading levels and approximately 12% could not read at the target level. A Procedure Walk-Through Evaluation was administered to each person not reaching tenth grade reading level. This was a job performance measure given to ensure that the worker was competent in his/her present job, and should remain there while completing reading training. A mandatory Reading Training Program utilizing Computer Based Training was established. This program is self-paced, individualized instruction and provided to the worker on Company time. Results of the CBT Program have been very good. Instruction is supplemented with test-taking skills seminars, practice exams, individual conferences with their own reading specialist, and some self-directed study books. This paper describes the program at Savannah River Site

Reading up on sex: Learning to read. Why sex matters, and whether physical fitness and activity are relevant in reading acquisition

OpenAIRE

Tunstad, Hege Jørgensen

2013-01-01

When you read this thesis, you rely on a skill you acquired as a child. Most children start at the age of 5-6 years to learn single letters, write their name, and gradually develop the functional skill of decoding strings of letters; in other words, reading. By the age of 10 they are expected to read texts with concentration, endurance, fluency and coherence. The success rate varies, and Norwegian children score slightly above average when reading skills are measured globally, and are better ...

Single-Cell-Genomics-Facilitated Read Binning of Candidate Phylum EM19 Genomes from Geothermal Spring Metagenomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Becraft, Eric D; Dodsworth, Jeremy A; Murugapiran, Senthil K; Ohlsson, J Ingemar; Briggs, Brandon R; Kanbar, Jad; De Vlaminck, Iwijn; Quake, Stephen R; Dong, Hailiang; Hedlund, Brian P; Swingley, Wesley D

2016-02-15

The vast majority of microbial life remains uncatalogued due to the inability to cultivate these organisms in the laboratory. This "microbial dark matter" represents a substantial portion of the tree of life and of the populations that contribute to chemical cycling in many ecosystems. In this work, we leveraged an existing single-cell genomic data set representing the candidate bacterial phylum "Calescamantes" (EM19) to calibrate machine learning algorithms and define metagenomic bins directly from pyrosequencing reads derived from Great Boiling Spring in the U.S. Great Basin. Compared to other assembly-based methods, taxonomic binning with a read-based machine learning approach yielded final assemblies with the highest predicted genome completeness of any method tested. Read-first binning subsequently was used to extract Calescamantes bins from all metagenomes with abundant Calescamantes populations, including metagenomes from Octopus Spring and Bison Pool in Yellowstone National Park and Gongxiaoshe Spring in Yunnan Province, China. Metabolic reconstruction suggests that Calescamantes are heterotrophic, facultative anaerobes, which can utilize oxidized nitrogen sources as terminal electron acceptors for respiration in the absence of oxygen and use proteins as their primary carbon source. Despite their phylogenetic divergence, the geographically separate Calescamantes populations were highly similar in their predicted metabolic capabilities and core gene content, respiring O2, or oxidized nitrogen species for energy conservation in distant but chemically similar hot springs. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Adolescent reading skill and engagement with digital and traditional literacies as predictors of reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Lynne G; McGeown, Sarah P; Griffiths, Yvonne M; Stothard, Susan E; Dobai, Anna

2016-05-01

This study investigates the concurrent predictors of adolescent reading comprehension (literal, inferential) for fiction and non-fiction texts. Predictors were examined from the cognitive (word identification, reading fluency), psychological (gender), and ecological (print exposure) domains. Print exposure to traditional and digital texts was surveyed using a diary method of reading habits. A cross-sectional sample of 312 students in early (11-13 years) or middle adolescence (14-15 years) participated from a range of SES backgrounds. Word identification emerged as a strong predictor of reading comprehension across adolescence and text genres. Gender effects favouring female students were evident for reading frequency but not for reading skill itself. Reading habits also differed, and comprehension advantages were observed among females for fiction and males for non-fiction. Age effects emerged for reading frequency, which was lower in middle adolescence. Although more time was spent on digital than on traditional texts, traditional extended text reading was the only reading habit to predict inference-making in comprehension and to distinguish skilled from less skilled comprehenders. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Extraction of High Molecular Weight DNA from Fungal Rust Spores for Long Read Sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwessinger, Benjamin; Rathjen, John P

2017-01-01

Wheat rust fungi are complex organisms with a complete life cycle that involves two different host plants and five different spore types. During the asexual infection cycle on wheat, rusts produce massive amounts of dikaryotic urediniospores. These spores are dikaryotic (two nuclei) with each nucleus containing one haploid genome. This dikaryotic state is likely to contribute to their evolutionary success, making them some of the major wheat pathogens globally. Despite this, most published wheat rust genomes are highly fragmented and contain very little haplotype-specific sequence information. Current long-read sequencing technologies hold great promise to provide more contiguous and haplotype-phased genome assemblies. Long reads are able to span repetitive regions and phase structural differences between the haplomes. This increased genome resolution enables the identification of complex loci and the study of genome evolution beyond simple nucleotide polymorphisms. Long-read technologies require pure high molecular weight DNA as an input for sequencing. Here, we describe a DNA extraction protocol for rust spores that yields pure double-stranded DNA molecules with molecular weight of >50 kilo-base pairs (kbp). The isolated DNA is of sufficient purity for PacBio long-read sequencing, but may require additional purification for other sequencing technologies such as Nanopore and 10× Genomics.

Improve your reading

CERN Document Server

Fry, Ron

2012-01-01

Help your students discover the practical solution to their reading frustrations, with Improve Your Reading. Written by bestselling author and education advocate Ron Fry, this book avoids gimmicks and tricks in favor of proven strategies that will help your students better retain and comprehend what they've read in any textbook, in any course, at any academic level. Endlessly adaptable to each student's individual learning needs, the text focuses on fundamental skills students can carry beyond the classroom.

Mind-Reading ability and structural connectivity changes in aging

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Monia eCabinio

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The Mind-Reading ability through the eyes is an important component of the affective Theory of Mind (ToM, which allows people to infer the other’s mental state from the eye gaze. The aim of the present study was to investigate to which extent age-associated structural brain changes impact this ability and to determine if this association is related to executive functions in elderly subjects. For this purpose, Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to determine both gray matter and white matter areas associated with aging. The resulting areas have been included in a subsequent correlation analysis to detect the brain regions whose structure was associated with the Mind-Reading ability through the eyes, assessed with the Italian version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME test, in a sample of 36 healthy subjects ranging from 24 to 79 years of age. The analysis resulted in three important findings: 1 the performance to the RME test is relatively stable across the decades 20-70 (despite a slight decrease of this ability with aging and independent from executive functions; 2 structural brain imaging demonstrated the involvement of a great number of cortical ToM areas for the execution of the RME test: the bilateral precentral gyrus, the bilateral posterior insula, the left superior temporal gyrus and the left inferior frontal gyrus, which also showed a significant volume decrease with age; 3 an age and task-related decline in white matter connectivity on left fronto-temporal portion of the brain. Our results confirm the age-related structural modifications of the brain and show that these changes have an influence on the Mind-Reading ability through the eyes.

Follow-up study on reading comprehension in Down's syndrome: the role of reading skills and listening comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Roch, Maja; Florit, Elena; Levorato, Chiara

2011-01-01

According to the 'Simple View of Reading', reading comprehension requires some abilities such as reading skill and listening comprehension. Individuals with Down's syndrome show relative strengths in reading skills, mainly in word recognition, where they attain a reading age of about 7-8 years. Compared with word recognition, their reading comprehension is usually delayed by at least 6 months. Poor reading comprehension is paralleled by weak listening comprehension. It is claimed that poor listening comprehension might constrain the development of reading comprehension and, therefore, be a cause for the asynchrony between reading skills and reading comprehension. A follow-up study was carried out in order to analyse the improvements in reading skills, listening and reading text comprehension, and to support the hypothesis of a causal relationship between listening and reading comprehension. Ten children and adolescents with Down's syndrome, aged between 11 years 3 months and 19 years 10 months, were assessed twice over a one-year period as to their reading skills, listening and reading text comprehension. Three main findings emerged: (1) reading skills, on the one hand, and comprehension (both listening and reading), on the other hand, are independent; (2) reading comprehension development is determined mainly by listening comprehension, which in the present study proved to be very poor; and (3) an improvement after a one-year period, even though limited, occurred for all examined abilities except for listening comprehension. The results are discussed in the light of the theoretical framework of the 'Simple View of Reading' and of their relevance for practical and educational issues. © 2011 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

Reading While Listening on Mobile Devices: An Innovative Approach to Enhance Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Rochdi, Aicha; Eppard, Jenny

2017-01-01

This poster session will describe a study that took place at a university in the United Arab Emirates. The study included a reading app that was downloaded onto each student's individual mobile device. Students could read while listening to the stories. The primary goal of the study was to determine how, if at all, listening while reading in a…

The Role of RAN and Reading Rate in Predicting Reading Self-Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Kasperski, Ronen; Shany, Michal; Katzir, Tami

2016-01-01

Social identity theory states that a person's self-concept is created from comparison with others (Walsh & Gordon, 2008). In the case of reading, oral reading is a salient feature young children have to compare themselves on to their classroom peer group. The current study was set to explore the ability of oral reading tasks such as rapid…

Environmental and economic assessment of the chemical absorption process in Korea using the LEAP model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Ho-Jun; Lee, Seungmoon; Maken, Sanjeev; Ahn, Se-Woong; Park, Jin-Won; Min, Byoungryul; Koh, Wongun

2007-01-01

CO 2 emission from fossil fuels is a major cause for the global warming effect, but it is hard to remove completely in actuality. Moreover, energy consumption is bound to increase for the continuous economic development of a country that has an industrial formation requiring high-energy demand. Therefore, we need to consider not only a device for CO 2 mitigation but also its impact when a CO 2 mitigation device is applied. The device for CO 2 emission mitigation can be classified into three fields: energy consumption reduction, development of CO 2 removal and recovery technology, and development of alternative energy technology. Among these options, CO 2 removal and recovery technology has a merit that can be applied to a process in the near future. Therefore, research for CO 2 removal and recovery is actively progressing in Korea. In this study, environmental and economic assessment according to the energy policy change for climate change agreement and increase of CO 2 mitigation technology is accomplished, on the bases of operating data for the CO 2 chemical absorption pilot plant that is installed in the Seoul coal steam power plant. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP) was used to analyze the alternative scenario, and results were shown quantitatively

Overlapping genetic and child-specific nonshared environmental influences on listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Schenker, Victoria J; Petrill, Stephen A

2015-01-01

This study investigated the genetic and environmental influences on observed associations between listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension. Univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic models were conducted in a sample of 284 pairs of twins at a mean age of 9.81 years. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for statistically significant variance in listening and reading comprehension, and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variance in reading motivation. Furthermore, listening comprehension demonstrated unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences but also had overlapping genetic influences with reading comprehension. Reading motivation and reading comprehension each had unique and overlapping nonshared environmental contributions. Therefore, listening comprehension appears to be related to reading primarily due to genetic factors whereas motivation appears to affect reading via child-specific, nonshared environmental effects. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Overlapping Genetic and Child-Specific Nonshared Environmental Influences on Listening Comprehension, Reading Motivation, and Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Schenker, Victoria J.; Petrill, Stephen A.

2015-01-01

This study investigated the genetic and environmental influences on observed associations between listening comprehension, reading motivation, and reading comprehension. Univariate and multivariate quantitative genetic models were conducted in a sample of 284 pairs of twins at a mean age of 9.81 years. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for statistically significant variance in listening and reading comprehension, and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variance in reading motivation. Furthermore, listening comprehension demonstrated unique genetic and nonshared environmental influences but also had overlapping genetic influences with reading comprehension. Reading motivation and reading comprehension each had unique and overlapping nonshared environmental contributions. Therefore, listening comprehension appears to be related to reading primarily due to genetic factors whereas motivation appears to affect reading via child-specific, nonshared environmental effects. PMID:26321677

AUTHENTIC TEXTS FOR CRITICAL READING ACTIVITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ila Amalia

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This research takes an action research aimed at promoting critical reading (“thinking” while reading skills using authentic materials among the students. This research also aims to reveal the students perception on using critical reading skills in reading activities. Nineteen English Education Department students who took Reading IV class, participated in this project. There were three cycles with three different critical reading strategies were applied. Meanwhile, the authentic materials were taken from newspaper and internet articles. The result revealed that the use of critical reading strategies along with the use of authentic materials has improved students’ critical reading skills as seen from the improvement of each cycle - the students critical reading skill was 54% (fair in the cycle 1 improved to 68% (average in cycle 2, and 82% (good in cycle 3.. In addition, based on the critical reading skill criteria, the students’ critical reading skill has improved from 40% (nearly meet to 80% (exceed. Meanwhile, from the students’ perception questionnaire, it was shown that 63% students agreed the critical reading activity using authentic text could improve critical thinking and 58% students agreed that doing critical reading activity could improve reading comprehension. The result had the implication that the use of authentic texts could improve students’ critical reading skills if it was taught by performing not lecturing them. Selectively choosing various strategies and materials can trigger students’ activeness in responding to a text, that eventually shape their critical reading skills.

Investigating the Effects of Repeated Reading and NLP : Language Patterns on Reading Rate

OpenAIRE

Ben, Backwell; Brian, Cullen

2018-01-01

This paper investigates EFL student reading speed and describes a quasi-experimental study that attempted to quantify the effects of repeated reading and the use of NLP language patterns in the instructions. An experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30) carried out the same timed reading activity three times each lesson for five lessons. The instructions for the experimental group included NLP language patterns designed to promote faster reading. It was shown that the repeated readi...

Enhancing the Reading Fluency and Comprehension of Children with Reading Disabilities in an Orthographically Transparent Language

Science.gov (United States)

Snellings, Patrick; van der Leij, Aryan; de Jong, Peter F.; Blok, Henk

2009-01-01

Breznitz (2006) demonstrated that Hebrew-speaking adults with reading disabilities benefited from a training in which reading rate was experimentally manipulated. In the present study, the authors examine whether silent reading training enhances the sentence reading rate and comprehension of children with reading disabilities and whether results…

An investigation into the English reading comprehension of Grade 10 English first additional language learners at a senior secondary school

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaka Chaka

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Poor levels of English first additional language (EFAL reading comprehension amongst school learners at most public schools in South Africa are a great concern. In fact, for learning to be successful and effective, learners need to be able to read well in EFAL. This is more so as EFAL serves as a language of learning and teaching (LOLT for most learning areas in South Africa’s public schools. Against this background, this study set out in 2012 to investigate the English reading comprehension of Grade 10 EFAL learners at a senior secondary school. Using purposive and voluntary sampling techniques, the study had 17 EFAL learners(M = 10, F–7 as its participants. It employed three reading measures, a recall task, a summary and a comprehension test, which were based on three English extracts, to assess participants’ reading comprehension. It then assessed and scored participants’ responses to the three tasks by using an oral reading rubric and two prepared marking memoranda. One of the findings of this study was that, of the three reading tasks administered, participants did slightly above average in the comprehension test, but performed below average in the two other tasks – the recall and summary tasks.

Neuropsychological and cognitive processes in reading

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Pirozzolo, Francis J

2013-01-01

Neuropsychological and Cognitive Processes in Reading explores reading and reading disabilities within the context of cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Emphasis is on the roles of brain mechanisms in reading and reading disturbances. In the areas of perception and cognition, theoretical models of the reading process are used to highlight the various psychological processes involved in the act of skilled reading. Comprised of 12 chapters, this volume begins with an introduction to the fundamental processes of reading, giving particular attention to a psychological theory that builds on two concepts: that the basic processes of reading are few in number, and that they are separable from one another. A useful and testable information-processing model of reading that consists of three separable, fundamental processes - decoding, word meaning, and sentence comprehension - is described. Subsequent chapters deal with some of the external and internal factors involved in reading; a model of disorders of readi...

Monitoring Progress toward Independent Silent Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Franc, Lillian H.; Hildebrandt, Jeannette

1984-01-01

Concludes, among other things, that fluent oral reading is an important step toward reading for meaning and independent silent reading and that silent reading should be encouraged from the beginning of reading instruction. (FL)

Early Identification of Reading Difficulties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads; Nielsen, Anne-Mette Veber; Juul, Holger

2017-01-01

Early screening for reading difficulties before the onset of instruction is desirable because it allows intervention that is targeted at prevention rather than remediation of reading difficulties. However, early screening may be too inaccurate to effectively allocate resources to those who need...... them. The present study compared the accuracy of early screening before the onset of formal reading instruction with late screening six months into the first year of instruction. The study followed 164 Danish students from the end of Grade 0 to the end of Grade 2. Early screening included measures...... of phonemic awareness, rapid naming, letter knowledge, paired associate learning, and reading. Late screening included only reading. Results indicated that reading measures improved substantially as predictors over the first six months of Grade 1, to the point where late reading measures alone provided...

Mothers' Reading-Related Activities at Home and Learning to Read during Kindergarten

Science.gov (United States)

Silinskas, Gintautas; Parrila, Rauno; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Niemi, Pekka; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2010-01-01

This longitudinal study investigates how the reading-related activities of mothers at home relate to the development of reading skills among their kindergarten children. A total of 1,529 children (5-to-6-year-olds) were tested on word reading twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of a kindergarten year. The mothers of the children (n =…

Aggregation in organic light emitting diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Abigail

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology has great potential for becoming a solid state lighting source. However, there are inefficiencies in OLED devices that need to be understood. Since these inefficiencies occur on a nanometer scale there is a need for structural data on this length scale in three dimensions which has been unattainable until now. Local Electron Atom Probe (LEAP), a specific implementation of Atom Probe Tomography (APT), is used in this work to acquire morphology data in three dimensions on a nanometer scale with much better chemical resolution than is previously seen. Before analyzing LEAP data, simulations were used to investigate how detector efficiency, sample size and cluster size affect data analysis which is done using radial distribution functions (RDFs). Data is reconstructed using the LEAP software which provides mass and position data. Two samples were then analyzed, 3% DCM2 in C60 and 2% DCM2 in Alq3. Analysis of both samples indicated little to no clustering was present in this system.

MisReading LIS Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiegand, Wayne

1997-01-01

Discusses the need to place a greater emphasis on the subject of reading in library and information science (LIS) education and research. Topics include literacy studies, print culture history, reader-response theory, ethnography of reading, genre fiction and cultural studies, information versus reading, and access to information versus content of…

Early Reading and Concrete Operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Polk, Cindy L. Howes; Goldstein, David

1980-01-01

Indicated that early readers are more likely to be advanced in cognitive development than are nonearly-reading peers. After one year of formal reading instruction, early readers maintained their advantage in reading achievement. Measures of concrete operations were found to predict reading achievement for early and nonearly readers. (Author/DB)

A Longitudinal Study of the Role of Reading Motivation in Primary Students' Reading Comprehension: Implications for a Less Simple View of Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, Kelly B.; Marshall, Timothy R.; Wray, Erica

2016-01-01

Although substantial research indicates motivation contributes significant variance to reading comprehension in upper elementary students, research with students in primary grades has focused, instead, on the relation of motivation to word reading. Assessment of reading motivation in 68 first and second graders indicated word and nonword reading…

The relationship between component skills, reading experience, and reading comprehension in Danish 3rd graders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rønberg, Louise Flensted-Jensen; Petersen, Dorthe Klint

data sets were obtained from 179 Danish Grade 3 pupils. Participants were given a standard reading comprehension test requiring multiple-choice answers to six different texts of various length and type. Orthographic and phonological coding, as well as non-verbal problem solving were assessed by means......Purpose The main aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of aspects of vocabulary, word reading abilities, and reading experience to reading comprehension, and to analyse sub-samples of students with comprehension difficulties. Method The study employed a cross-sectional design. Full......: path, street, road, river). Results Data analyses showed that in the entire sample, skills of semantic lexical structuring and reading experience made strong contributions to reading comprehension. Analyses of the pupils below the 25%-percentile in reading comprehension revealed that for the vast...

Guided Reading and Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Hauptman, Allyson L.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Guided Reading and student motivation to read across fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The study defined literacy motivation as: (a) task value; (b) self-perceived competence; (c) students' perceptions of the Guided Reading format. Factor analysis and repeated measures ANOVAs were…

China Accomplished Its First Space Rendezvous and Docking

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chen Xiaoli

2011-01-01

At 1:36 am on November 3,China's Shenzhou 8 unmanned spaceship and Tiangong 1 space lab spacecraft accomplished the country's first space docking procedure and coupling in space at more than 343km above Earth's surface,marking a great leap in China's space program.

Resource use efficiency, ecological intensification and sustainability of intercropping systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mao, L.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, S.; Evers, J.B.; Werf, van der W.; Wang, J.; Sun, H.; Su, Z.; Spiertz, J.H.J.

2015-01-01

The rapidly growing demand for food, feed and fuel requires further improvements of land and water management, crop productivity and resource-use efficiencies. Combined field experimentation and crop growth modelling during the past five decades made a great leap forward in the understanding of

SensorScheme: Supply Chain Management Automation using Wireless Sensor Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Kuper, Jan; Lijding, M.E.M.; Meratnia, Nirvana

2007-01-01

The supply chain management business can benefit greatly from automation, as recent developments with RFID technology shows. The use of Wireless Sensor Network technology promises to bring the next leap in efficiency and quality of service. However, current WSN system software does not yet provide

Operating Classroom Aesthetic Reading Environment to Raise Children's Reading Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Mei-Ju; Cheng, Jui-Ching; Cheng, Ya-Wen

2016-01-01

This research aims to explore how preschool educators understand about raising children's reading motivation through operating classroom aesthetic reading environment. With one year qualitative research, sixteen 4-6 years old young were observed and interviewed. The first stage interviews were undergone with environmental guidance. After the…

Reading in a Digital Age

Science.gov (United States)

Baron, Naomi S.

2017-01-01

The many advantages of reading digitally also bring with them implications for how we learn differently when we read differently. The author suggests that new contemporary technologies are changing the very notion of what it means to read. Even millennials acknowledge that their attention is more focused when they read print rather than online.…

Teaching Reading with Puppets.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Ruth

The use of traditional stories in American Indian language programs connects students' reading to their lives and familiarizes learners with the rhythms of the oral language. Puppet performances are one way of connecting reading programs to the Native oral tradition. A high school reading lesson in a first-year Hupa language class uses many…

The Inculcation of Loving Reading Quran Values at the Reading Quran Institution, Home, and Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wirdanengsih Wirdanengsih

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was intended to describe the value of loving reading Al-Quran that was implemented by three education centers; Reading Quran Insitution Awaliyah, Family and Community Education for children between 9-12 years old in Nagari Balai Gurah. Also, this research was to discover how is the implementation of loving reading Al-Quran values and who are involved in it.  The result indicated that the implementation of the values of loving reading Al-Quran basically used surveillance approaches and guidance from the tutors, parents, and community in Reading Al-Quran. The socialization pattern that was used in implementing the value of love reading Al-Quran at Reading Quran Institution and family tended to use flexible patterns between authoritative and permissive patterns. Parties who involved in implementing the value of loving reading Al-Quran were the Awaliyah Institution, teacher and management, and family consisting of fathers, mothers, siblings, and grandparents. The uniqueness came from the roles of cultural social values in the community stating children who did not learn and love Al-Quran will be an embarrassment to the family. Moreover, the ceremony of Khatam Quran became the strong factor for children in implementing loving reading Al-Quran, due to this ceremony there was a process of social acknowledgement to the children who love reading Al-Quran.

Nurturing a lexical legacy: reading experience is critical for the development of word reading skill

Science.gov (United States)

Nation, Kate

2017-12-01

The scientific study of reading has taught us much about the beginnings of reading in childhood, with clear evidence that the gateway to reading opens when children are able to decode, or `sound out' written words. Similarly, there is a large evidence base charting the cognitive processes that characterise skilled word recognition in adults. Less understood is how children develop word reading expertise. Once basic reading skills are in place, what factors are critical for children to move from novice to expert? This paper outlines the role of reading experience in this transition. Encountering individual words in text provides opportunities for children to refine their knowledge about how spelling represents spoken language. Alongside this, however, reading experience provides much more than repeated exposure to individual words in isolation. According to the lexical legacy perspective, outlined in this paper, experiencing words in diverse and meaningful language environments is critical for the development of word reading skill. At its heart is the idea that reading provides exposure to words in many different contexts, episodes and experiences which, over time, sum to a rich and nuanced database about their lexical history within an individual's experience. These rich and diverse encounters bring about local variation at the word level: a lexical legacy that is measurable during word reading behaviour, even in skilled adults.

Do You Read Me? Service Supplement: Reading Development Activities Guide.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Elizabeth L.; Chenoweth, Roberta

This activity guide is one of four supplements to be used with "Do You Read Me? Prevocational-Vocational Reading Development Activities" (ED 210 454). Each supplement deals with a different occupational category. Games, puzzles, and other activities are offered to aid in developing the word recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension…

Measuring the Effects of Reading Assistance Dogs on Reading Ability and Attitudes in Elementary Schoolchildren

Science.gov (United States)

Lenihan, Dawn; McCobb, Emily; Diurba, Amanda; Linder, Deborah; Freeman, Lisa

2016-01-01

Reading assistance dogs can be incorporated into reading programs to increase a child's desire and ability to read. However, more data is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs. A 5-week reading assistance dog program was implemented to assess feasibility and effectiveness. Participants included 18 children entering the 2nd grade…

Reading for Understanding: Towards an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Snow, Catherine

2001-01-01

This draft report from the Rand Reading Study Group (RRSG)1 formulates an initial proposal concerning the research issues that the community of reading researchers most urgently needs to address over the next 10-15 years...

From a WebQuest to a ReadingQuest: learners' reactions in an EFL extensive reading class

OpenAIRE

Barros, Ana Cláudia; Amorim Carvalho, Ana Amélia

2007-01-01

Most students don’t like reading in a foreign language. They find it a difficult task, mainly due to the high number of unknown words they encounter when reading a text. They consider reading classes boring and uninteresting and as a result our students are poor readers. Concerned with this situation, we conducted a study on the impact of a learning environment based on the WebQuest, a ReadingQuest, and on student engagement in an extensive reading task. The results show that the ReadingQuest...

Dynamic Testing, Working Memory, and Reading Comprehension Growth in Children with Reading Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, H. Lee

2011-01-01

This longitudinal study assessed (a) whether performance changes in working memory (WM) as a function of dynamic testing were related to growth in reading comprehension and (b) whether WM performance among subgroups of children with reading disabilities (RD; children with RD only, children with both reading and arithmetic deficits, and low verbal…

Free Reading Is UTOPIA

Science.gov (United States)

LeCrone, Nancy

2010-01-01

In high school students get tied up in extracurricular activities and have little time for pleasure reading. It is true that with rigorous academic schedules they have little time for pleasure reading. Thus began a conversation with a sophomore English teacher at the author's high school. As they were discussing the plight of free reading he was…

Readability and Reading Ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Benjamin D.; Stenner, A. Jackson

This document discusses the measurement of reading ability and the readability of books by application of the Lexile framework. It begins by stating the importance of uniform measures. It then discusses the history of reading ability testing, based on the assumption that no researcher has been able to measure more than one kind of reading ability.…

Automatic and creative skills in reading Automatic and creative skills in reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonor Scliar Cabral

2008-04-01

Full Text Available In this article I will discuss the automatic and creative skills in reading, focusing on the differences between 1 processes involved while learning how to read and processes employed by the proficient reader and 2 knowledge for using language and metalinguistic awareness. The arguments will derive mainly from the definition of reading as a process where the receivers combine the information extracted from the written material with their specialized knowledge activated during this process (i.e. linguistic systems and correspondent rules and enciclopedic knowledge in order to comprehend, interpret and internalize structured new information and/or to experience aesthetic pleasure. Evidence to illustrate the arguments comes from experiments (1 with pre-school children and beginning readers on narrativity and on the dichotic paradigm, and with illiterate and literate adults with diferent levels of proficiency of reading in a task of erasing an initial syllable and an initial consonant. In this article I will discuss the automatic and creative skills in reading, focusing on the differences between 1 processes involved while learning how to read and processes employed by the proficient reader and 2 knowledge for using language and metalinguistic awareness. The arguments will derive mainly from the definition of reading as a process where the receivers combine the information extracted from the written material with their specialized knowledge activated during this process (i.e. linguistic systems and correspondent rules and enciclopedic knowledge in order to comprehend, interpret and internalize structured new information and/or to experience aesthetic pleasure. Evidence to illustrate the arguments comes from experiments (1 with pre-school children and beginning readers on narrativity and on the dichotic paradigm, and with illiterate and literate adults with diferent levels of proficiency of reading in a task of erasing an initial syllable

Lexical-Semantic Processing and Reading: Relations between Semantic Priming, Visual Word Recognition and Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Nobre, Alexandre de Pontes; de Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate relations between lexical-semantic processing and two components of reading: visual word recognition and reading comprehension. Sixty-eight children from private schools in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 7 to 12 years, were evaluated. Reading was assessed with a word/nonword reading task and a reading…

Reading motivation in elementary school students

OpenAIRE

Sonja Pečjak; Nataša Bucik

2005-01-01

Reading motivation is one of the crucial factors of reading and consequently also learning efficiency of students. The purpose of the contribution is to establish the connection between dimensions of reading motivation and reading achievement in elementary school students. Participating in the study were 1073 third-grade and 1282 seventh-grade students. We used the questionnaire of reading motivation which consists of two factors: the reading competence factor and the interest and perceived r...

The Effect of Four Different Approaches to Parent-Child Reading on Young Chinese Children's Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Feng

2016-01-01

Forty families with four- to five-year-old Chinese children were chosen as experiment participants and equally divided into four groups for an eight-week parent-child reading experiment in different reading modes. (1) Groups A, B, and C read one of three kinds of Chinese-English audio bilingual picture books respectively: touch reading books,…

Evaluating the Efficacy of Using a Digital Reading Environment to Improve Reading Comprehension within a Reading Clinic

Science.gov (United States)

Ortlieb, Evan; Sargent, Stephan; Moreland, Meagan

2014-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of using the online digital reading environment to increase elementary students' comprehension within a reading clinic. Preservice teachers at a four-year university in the Midwest worked one-on-one with 58 fourth-grade students from three schools who were assigned to one of three conditions: print-based text…

Simple View of Reading in Down's syndrome: the role of listening comprehension and reading skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Roch, Maja; Levorato, M Chiara

2009-01-01

According to the 'Simple View of Reading' (Hoover and Gough 1990), individual differences in reading comprehension are accounted for by decoding skills and listening comprehension, each of which makes a unique and specific contribution. The current research was aimed at testing the Simple View of Reading in individuals with Down's syndrome and comparing their profiles with typically developing first graders. Listening comprehension and the ability to read both words and non-words was compared in two groups with the same level of reading comprehension: 23 individuals with Down's syndrome aged between 11 years 3 months and 18 years 2 months and 23 first-grade typically developing children aged between 6 years 2 months and 7 years 4 months. The results indicate that at the same level of reading comprehension, individuals with Down's syndrome have less developed listening comprehension and more advanced word recognition than typically developing first graders. A comparison of the profiles of the two groups revealed that reading comprehension level was predicted by listening comprehension in both groups of participants and by word-reading skills only in typically developing children. The Simple View of Reading model is confirmed for individuals with Down's syndrome, although they do not show the reading profile of typically developing first graders; rather, they show an atypical profile similar to that of 'poor comprehenders' (Cain and Oakhill 2006). The crucial role of listening comprehension in Down's syndrome is also discussed with reference to the educational implications.

Enhancing Reading Comprehension of Iranian Advanced EFL Learners through Task-based Reading Activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahid Fallah Golchin

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Language learning has experienced a shift of focus from a form-focused to a meaning-focused approach, and the necessity of using task-based learning, a relatively recent approach, has emerged. The vital role of task-based materials makes it obligatory not to exclude them from the language learning syllabi.  The current study aims at investigating whether task-based reading can contribute significantly to the development of reading comprehension of Iranian advanced EFL learners of English. An experimental study was carried out in order to scrutinize the applicability of task-based language teaching. To this end, 60 female advanced EFL learners, selected from among a pool of 100 learners, were assigned equally and randomly into two groups of thirty, consisting of an experimental and a control group. The selection of the participants was based on the results of a standard and piloted version of Paper-based TOEFL. The participant’s mean age was about 23, ranging from 20 to 27 years of age. Both groups received a pretest and a post-test of reading. During the treatment period the experimental group received task-based reading activities while the control group received reading instructions through traditional methods. The impact of the treatment upon the reading comprehension ability of the participants was analyzed through an independent-samples t-test, and comparisons between groups were made. The results clearly indicated the development of reading comprehension ability of the participants in the first group (the experimental group through the application of task-based reading activities.

Reading and reading instruction for children from low-income and non-English-speaking households.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesaux, Nonie K

2012-01-01

Although most young children seem to master reading skills in the early grades of elementary school, many struggle with texts as they move through middle school and high school. Why do children who seem to be proficient readers in third grade have trouble comprehending texts in later grades? To answer this question, Nonie Lesaux describes what is known about reading development and instruction, homing in on research conducted with children from low-income and non-English-speaking homes. Using key insights from this research base, she offers two explanations. The first is that reading is a dynamic and multifaceted process that requires continued development if students are to keep pace with the increasing demands of school texts and tasks. The second lies in the role of reading assessment and instruction in U.S. schools. Lesaux draws a distinction between the "skills-based competencies" that readers need to sound out and recognize words and the "knowledge-based competencies" that include the conceptual and vocabulary knowledge necessary to comprehend a text's meaning. Although U.S. schools have made considerable progress in teaching skills-based reading competencies that are the focus of the early grades, most have made much less progress in teaching the knowledge-based competencies students need to support reading comprehension in middle and high school. These knowledge-based competencies are key sources of lasting individual differences in reading outcomes, particularly among children growing up in low-income and non-English-speaking households. Augmenting literacy rates, Lesaux explains, will require considerable shifts in the way reading is assessed and taught in elementary and secondary schools. First, schools must conduct comprehensive reading assessments that discern learners' (potential) sources of reading difficulties--in both skills-based and knowledge-based competencies. Second, educators must implement instructional approaches that offer promise for

Improving Efl Students' Reading Comprehension And Students' Perception On Metacognitive Reading Strategies

OpenAIRE

Linda, Kristina; Regina; Sutapa,, Y. Gatot

2015-01-01

The aims of this study were improving EFL students' reading comprehension by using Metacognitive Reading Strategies and finding out the students' perceptions on Metacognitive Reading Strategies. The method of the research was a classroom action research. The research subjects were 29 students majoring in Accounting Program class 3 of Year-10. This research was conducted in three cycles to maximize the students' improvement in comprehending the text. The findings of data collecting revealed th...

Reading and company

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuzmičová, Anežka; Dias, Patrícia; Vogrinčič Čepič, Ana

2017-01-01

in the environment where one engages in individual silent reading. The primary goal of the study was to explore the role and possible associations of a number of variables (text type, purpose, device) in selecting generic (e.g. indoors vs outdoors) as well as specific (e.g. home vs library) reading environments....... Across all six samples included in the study, participants spontaneously attested to varied, and partly surprising, forms of sensitivity to company and social space in their daily efforts to align body with mind for reading. The article reports these emergent trends and discusses their potential...

TEACHING READING USING MAGAZINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henny Uswatun Hasanah

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching is a process of communication. It has to be created through the way of teaching and exchanging the message or information by every teacher and student. The message can be knowledge, skills, ideas, experiences, and many others. Through the process of communication, the people can receive the message or information. To avoid misunderstanding in the process of communication, media are needed in the process of teaching. Magazine can be other alternative as reading material in the classroom. Magazine as reading material has appeal for the students. To make the students get information from magazine, the teacher can ask the students to observe table of content and giving the students training to use it. Like, what is done on text book. Distinguishing informative reading material with fictive reading, important to know students in reading magazine. Like analyzing advertisements to detect propaganda.

Exploring transcendence in EFL learners’ reading comprehension through computerized dynamic assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saman Ebadi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Derived from Vygotsky’s works, dynamic assessment (DA enables learners to move beyond their current level of functioning through offering needs-sensitized mediation. This study aimed at exploring the learners’ development in novel and increasingly more challenging situations called transcendence (TR in an L2 context focusing on reading comprehension through computerized dynamic assessment (CDA. An overall number of 32 BA TEFL advanced students were selected from among undergraduates of a university in Iran to participate in this study. To fulfil the purpose of the study, the researchers developed Computerized Dynamic Reading Assessment to examine Transcendence (CDRAT software which included reading comprehension CDA tests. To monitor the maintenance of learning in different time intervals, two software programs named CDRAT1 and CDRAT2 were utilized in specific time intervals after the posttest. The results indicated that not only did increased task complexity not lead to regression of students’ development, but also it had an effect on enhancing their development. Thus, transcendence had an effect on the generalizability of the contentions to a great extent. In conclusion, it was disclosed that there is no endpoint to progress and merely gaining a low or high score should not be interpreted as the inability of a special learner to surpass. This would more reinforce the need for applying TR in other future DA studies.

Assistive technology as reading interventions for children with reading impairments with a one-year follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeblad, Emma; Nilsson, Staffan; Gustafson, Stefan; Svensson, Idor

2017-10-01

This pilot study investigated the possible transfer effect on reading ability in children with reading difficulties after a systematic intervention to train and compensate for reading deficiencies by using applications in smartphones and tablets. The effects of using assistive technology (AT) one year after the interventions were completely studied. School related motivation, independent learning and family relations were also considered. 35 pupils aged 10-12 years participated. They were assessed five times with reading tests. The participants, their parents and teachers were surveyed with questionnaires regarding their experience of using AT. The data from the assessments were analyzed with paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using content analysis. The paper shows that using AT can create transfer effects on reading ability one year after the interventions were finished. This means that reading impaired children may develop at the same rate as non-impaired readers. Also, increased school motivation and an increase in independent learning and family effects have been shown. This paper provides implications in how to facilitate reading impaired pupils' learning process and realizes the need to challenge the concept of reading to change to fit modern means of gaining information. Implications for rehabilitation Children with reading impairment could benefit from assistive technology in regards of their reading development process and increase their chances of not falling behind peers. Assistive technology as applications in smartphones and tablets may aid children with reading impairment to have an equal platform for learning in school as their peers without reading difficulties. Assistive technology could facilitate the information gaining process and subsequently increase motivation to learn and increase interest in reading activities. Assistive technology had wider effects on its users: stigmatizing

Teaching artificial intelligence to read electropherograms.

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Taylor, Duncan; Powers, David

2016-11-01

Electropherograms are produced in great numbers in forensic DNA laboratories as part of everyday criminal casework. Before the results of these electropherograms can be used they must be scrutinised by analysts to determine what the identified data tells us about the underlying DNA sequences and what is purely an artefact of the DNA profiling process. A technique that lends itself well to such a task of classification in the face of vast amounts of data is the use of artificial neural networks. These networks, inspired by the workings of the human brain, have been increasingly successful in analysing large datasets, performing medical diagnoses, identifying handwriting, playing games, or recognising images. In this work we demonstrate the use of an artificial neural network which we train to 'read' electropherograms and show that it can generalise to unseen profiles. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

CRISPR technologies for bacterial systems: Current achievements and future directions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Kyeong Rok; Lee, Sang Yup

2016-01-01

Throughout the decades of its history, the advances in bacteria-based bio-industries have coincided with great leaps in strain engineering technologies. Recently unveiled clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) systems are now revolution......Throughout the decades of its history, the advances in bacteria-based bio-industries have coincided with great leaps in strain engineering technologies. Recently unveiled clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) systems are now...... revolutionizing biotechnology as well as biology. Diverse technologies have been derived from CRISPR/Cas systems in bacteria, yet the applications unfortunately have not been actively employed in bacteria as extensively as in eukaryotic organisms. A recent trend of engineering less explored strains in industrial...... microbiology-metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and other related disciplines-is demanding facile yet robust tools, and various CRISPR technologies have potential to cater to the demands. Here, we briefly review the science in CRISPR/Cas systems and the milestone inventions that enabled numerous CRISPR...

ALPHABET SIGN LANGUAGE RECOGNITION USING LEAP MOTION TECHNOLOGY AND RULE BASED BACKPROPAGATION-GENETIC ALGORITHM NEURAL NETWORK (RBBPGANN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wijayanti Nurul Khotimah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Sign Language recognition was used to help people with normal hearing communicate effectively with the deaf and hearing-impaired. Based on survey that conducted by Multi-Center Study in Southeast Asia, Indonesia was on the top four position in number of patients with hearing disability (4.6%. Therefore, the existence of Sign Language recognition is important. Some research has been conducted on this field. Many neural network types had been used for recognizing many kinds of sign languages. However, their performance are need to be improved. This work focuses on the ASL (Alphabet Sign Language in SIBI (Sign System of Indonesian Language which uses one hand and 26 gestures. Here, thirty four features were extracted by using Leap Motion. Further, a new method, Rule Based-Backpropagation Genetic Al-gorithm Neural Network (RB-BPGANN, was used to recognize these Sign Languages. This method is combination of Rule and Back Propagation Neural Network (BPGANN. Based on experiment this pro-posed application can recognize Sign Language up to 93.8% accuracy. It was very good to recognize large multiclass instance and can be solution of overfitting problem in Neural Network algorithm.

Effects of Illustration Types on the English Reading Performance of Senior High School Students with Different Cognitive Styles

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Luo, Yang; Lin, Yuewu

2017-01-01

Illustration is always used as an example to make the written text or the utterance more clear in general. In Winarski's opinion (1997), one picture equals thousands of words. That is to say, illustrations are capable to express the meaning of unfamiliar language or a great deal of information in the reading material by vivid pictures, tables,…

Effect of phonological and morphological awareness on reading comprehension in Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities.

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Schiff, Rachel; Schwartz-Nahshon, Sarit; Nagar, Revital

2011-06-01

This research explored phonological and morphological awareness among Hebrew-speaking adolescents with reading disabilities (RD) and its effect on reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities. Participants included 39 seventh graders with RD and two matched control groups of normal readers: 40 seventh graders matched for chronological age (CA) and 38 third graders matched for reading age (RA). We assessed phonological awareness, word reading, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension. Findings indicated that the RD group performed similarly to the RA group on phonological awareness but lower on phonological decoding. On the decontextualized morphological task, RD functioned on par with RA, whereas in a contextualized task RD performed above RA but lower than CA. In reading comprehension, RD performed as well as RA. Finally, results indicated that for normal readers contextual morphological awareness uniquely contributed to reading comprehension beyond phonological and word-reading abilities, whereas no such unique contribution emerged for the RD group. The absence of an effect of morphological awareness in predicting reading comprehension was suggested to be related to a different recognition process employed by RD readers which hinder the ability of these readers to use morphosemantic structures. The lexical quality hypothesis was proposed as further support to the findings, suggesting that a low quality of lexical representation in RD students leads to ineffective reading skills and comprehension. Lexical representation is thus critical for both lexical as well as comprehension abilities.

Interaction Quality during Partner Reading

OpenAIRE

Meisinger, Elizabeth B.; Schwanenflugel, Paula J.; Bradley, Barbara A.; Stahl, Steven A.

2004-01-01

The influence of social relationships, positive interdependence, and teacher structure on the quality of partner reading interactions was examined. Partner reading, a scripted cooperative learning strategy, is often used in classrooms to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills. Forty-three pairs of second grade children were observed during partner reading sessions taking place in 12 classrooms. The degree to which the partners displayed social cooperation (instrumental...

Write to read: the brain's universal reading and writing network.

Science.gov (United States)

Perfetti, Charles A; Tan, Li-Hai

2013-02-01

Do differences in writing systems translate into differences in the brain's reading network? Or is this network universal, relatively impervious to variation in writing systems? A new study adds intriguing evidence to these questions by showing that reading handwritten words activates a pre-motor area across writing systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Promoting reading and good reading culture through the use of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper is the findings from existing literature on the mechanics of using book talks and story books to inculcate reading and the steps to develop good reading culture in children. This work is an ongoing action research work in selected private and public schools in Lagos Mainland. It has so far been established that the ...

Great Apes

Science.gov (United States)

Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Cerveny, Shannon

2014-01-01

Anesthesia of great apes is often necessary to conduct diagnostic analysis, provide therapeutics, facilitate surgical procedures, and enable transport and translocation for conservation purposes. Due to the stress of remote delivery injection of anesthetic agents, recent studies have focused on oral delivery and/or transmucosal absorption of preanesthetic and anesthetic agents. Maintenance of the airway and provision of oxygen is an important aspect of anesthesia in great ape species. The provision of analgesia is an important aspect of the anesthesia protocol for any procedure involving painful stimuli. Opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often administered alone, or in combination to provide multi-modal analgesia. There is increasing conservation management of in situ great ape populations, which has resulted in the development of field anesthesia techniques for free-living great apes for the purposes of translocation, reintroduction into the wild, and clinical interventions.

The Interplay of Silent Reading, Reading-While-Listening and Listening-Only

Science.gov (United States)

Nakashima, Kohji; Stephens, Meredith; Kamata, Suzanne

2018-01-01

Leading scholars (Gilbert, 2009; Walter, 2008) have highlighted the importance of phonological processing in learning to read. Nevertheless, reading in Japan has traditionally been taught without adequate attention to the role of phonological processing. Accordingly, it was speculated that Japanese university students would demonstrate superior…

Motivation for Reading and Upper Primary School Students' Academic Achievement in Reading in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Mucherah, Winnie; Herendeen, Abbey

2013-01-01

This study examined primary school students' reading motivation and performance on the standardized exam. Participants included 901 seventh and eighth grade students from Kenya. There were 468 females and 433 males. Contrary to previous studies, results showed reading challenge and aesthetics, but not efficacy, predicted reading achievement,…

Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, Keir X X; Rajdev, Kishan; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Leff, Alexander P; Crutch, Sebastian J

2015-07-28

We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA. Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2). Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%-270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA. These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

Facilitating text reading in posterior cortical atrophy

Science.gov (United States)

Rajdev, Kishan; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Leff, Alexander P.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2015-01-01

Objective: We report (1) the quantitative investigation of text reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), and (2) the effects of 2 novel software-based reading aids that result in dramatic improvements in the reading ability of patients with PCA. Methods: Reading performance, eye movements, and fixations were assessed in patients with PCA and typical Alzheimer disease and in healthy controls (experiment 1). Two reading aids (single- and double-word) were evaluated based on the notion that reducing the spatial and oculomotor demands of text reading might support reading in PCA (experiment 2). Results: Mean reading accuracy in patients with PCA was significantly worse (57%) compared with both patients with typical Alzheimer disease (98%) and healthy controls (99%); spatial aspects of passages were the primary determinants of text reading ability in PCA. Both aids led to considerable gains in reading accuracy (PCA mean reading accuracy: single-word reading aid = 96%; individual patient improvement range: 6%–270%) and self-rated measures of reading. Data suggest a greater efficiency of fixations and eye movements under the single-word reading aid in patients with PCA. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate how neurologic characterization of a neurodegenerative syndrome (PCA) and detailed cognitive analysis of an important everyday skill (reading) can combine to yield aids capable of supporting important everyday functional abilities. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with PCA, 2 software-based reading aids (single-word and double-word) improve reading accuracy. PMID:26138948

Print exposure, reading habits, and reading achievement among deaf and hearing college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Marschark, Marc; Sarchet, Thomastine; Convertino, Carol M; Borgna, Georgianna; Morrison, Carolyn; Remelt, Sarah

2012-01-01

This study explored relations of print exposure, academic achievement, and reading habits among 100 deaf and 100 hearing college students. As in earlier studies, recognition tests for book titles and magazine titles were used as measures of print exposure, college entrance test scores were used as measures of academic achievement, and students provided self-reports of reading habits. Deaf students recognized fewer magazine titles and fewer book titles appropriate for reading levels from kindergarten through Grade 12 while reporting more weekly hours of reading. As in previous studies with hearing college students, the title recognition test proved a better predictor of deaf and hearing students' English achievement than how many hours they reported reading. The finding that the recognition tests were relatively more potent predictors of achievement for deaf students than hearing students may reflect the fact that deaf students often obtain less information through incidental learning and classroom presentations.

Technological Transformations of Reading Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albrechtslund, Anne-Mette Bech

The increasing use of social media along with the rapidly developing digitization of the book has led to a range of new circumstances for writing, publishing and reading books, resulting in transformations in reading culture and practices. The social aspect of reading is emphasized when readers...... relations in the network of writers, publishers, readers, and reviewers. Similarly, the increasing use of electronic reading devices plays a key role in the acceleration of a culture in which the audience engages with cultural works in new ways. The print book has an “easy materiality” (Marshall, 2010, p....... 17), but with the electronic book, the materiality of reading becomes more ambiguous and malleable as the book as technology is being radically reconstructed. The purpose of this paper is to explore these changes through an investigation into the technology relations (Ihde, 1990) in fiction reading...